Endgames
by Aurrawings
Summary: third installment of my series. i suck at summaries


After the untimely death of the twins, Jazz gave Shimmer a bit of a break and let her come home for a while to be with Prowl and I. Honestly, I wasn't much of a comfort. I couldn't stop thinking about how I'd had to end Jetfire's life, and I still couldn't forgive myself. I knew Shimmer didn't blame me, but I'd catch her still with tears leaking out of her optics.

The day after the funeral, Optimus' team, Jazz, Blurr, and I returned to the base. I had hardly spoken since the twins had gone offline, and made a beeline straight for me and Prowl's room. I knew Prowl followed me, though his footsteps were silent I could sense him behind me. I dropped on the floor in front of the tree and stared numbly at the ground.

Prowl knelt next to me, and I looked away from him slightly when he did. He gently took my face and made me look at him.

"What can I do to make you feel better?" he said, his expression soft. I shook my head before looking into his optics.

"Help me kill every freaking Decepticon that's left." I replied, my tone serious. Prowl frowned slightly.

"That's quite a task, especially because we don't have Sari's key anymore to heal whoever gets hurt." Prowl said, shifting so he was sitting cross-legged at my side.

"It's either them or us. They won't stop until we're all dead. First it's the Elite Guard and then the rest of the Autobots, I have to do something. I'm not going to sit on my aft and watch everyone die." I said. Prowl put his arm across my shoulders comfortingly.

"Revenge is never the answer, you know that don't you?" Prowl said. I sighed.

"Yes, but this is more than revenge. They've done nothing but take the ones I love from me. First my mother and sister, then the twins and they've come close to taking you too. What if they got Shimmer? I'd never be the same." I said. Prowl pulled me closer to him, my torso resting against his.

"Shimmer is strong, she can take care of herself. But I know what you mean. Can you imagine what I felt like that time I actually did lose you? I couldn't sleep, couldn't really do anything because everything would somehow remind me of you." Prowl said. I looked up at him, forcing a small smirk.

"You're such a softie." I said. Prowl rolled his optics.

"Or that time a few months ago when we were both taken and you were tortured. I knew you were alive, but they forced me to leave you behind. I thought my Spark was being torn apart, you have no idea how happy I was when they brought you back." Prowl said. I looked at him.

"Seriously, change the subject please? I..." I was saying as Shimmer ran into the room. Prowl dropped his arm from my shoulders and I put on a decent expression before facing Shimmer.

"Mom, look what Jazz gave me!" Shimmer said, holding something behind her back.

"Dear Primus, please tell me it's not sharp..." I said jokingly. Shimmer laughed and held out two daggers in her hands.

"I've been practicing in my training, watch. Tell me something to throw at." Shimmer said. Prowl and I got to our feet and stood back. Prowl spoke up.

"Alright, try to hit that knothole in the tree right there, do you see it?" Prowl said. Shimmer did nothing, merely nodding. Almost faster than I could register, she whirled and threw one of her daggers so that it stuck neatly and perfectly in the center of the knot. I applauded her as she retrieved her weapon.

"Nice job, I can tell you've been practicing." I said. Shimmer returned her daggers to a compartment on the underside of her wrists, obviously a small modification so she could carry her weapons.

"Mom?" Shimmer asked.

"Yes, sweetie?" I replied.

"Can I go to the woods? I'll be careful, I promise." Shimmer said. I bit my lip, reluctant to let her go out since the twins had been attacked so recently.

"I don't know..." I said. Shimmer put on her pleading face that was so hard to ignore and she begged me.

"Please?" she said. I sighed.

"Take someone with you." I said. Shimmer squealed and hugged me briefly.

"Is Blurr okay? I don't spend much time with him." she asked. I shrugged.

"If you can tolerate the way he talks he's not bad." I said. She waved and ran out the door, leaving Prowl and I behind. I heard Prowl chuckle behind me and turned.

"What are you laughing at?" I said. Prowl shook his head.

"And you say I'm the softie?" he said. I rested my hand on my sword jokingly.

"Just remember that I can kick your butt, tough guy." I said. I walked towards the door and I heard Prowl follow me. Going to the living room, I came upon an amusing scene.

"Come on Blurr, I'll race you!" Shimmer said. I wondered if she knew how fast he truly was, even though she had a fairly fast vehicle mode. Unlike me, she had the ability to take on an alternate mode, though really the only thing we could find for her had been a small, light motorcycle that was built for racing. She was faster than the rest of us, well, not Bumblebee when he used his rockets, but I knew she still couldn't beat Blurr.

Blurr glanced at me questioningly and I shrugged.

"Uh,I'llgiveyouaheadstart." Blurr said. Shimmer grinned.

"Suit yourself!" she chirped before transforming into a dark blue speed bike and taking off. Blurr turned to me, confused.

"SheisawarethatIcanreachthewo odsin2.3seconds,right?" Blurr said. I smiled.

"Ah, let her have her fun. You have my permission to show her up though." I said. Blurr smirked, giving a casual salute before darting off, not bothering to transform.

-Breezeway's POV-

Life was good, especially since I wasn't on Megatron's bad side anymore. Our order still stood to kill the Elite Guard that were left, though as far as I knew there were only Hayli, Blurr, and Jazz that were left on Earth.

Megatron hailed me over my commlink and I immediately reported to him. Standing at attention I awaited his orders.

"You're becoming quite the assassin, Breezeway." Megatron said.

"Thank you, sir." I replied curtly, not looking him in the optics.

"You have a new task, that young Autobot femme, Shimmer, and the Elite Guard agent Blurr have strayed from the base. Eliminate the agent if possible, but I am more interested in the girl." Megatron said. I was a bit confused.

"Yes sir, but may I ask, why do you want the little brat?" I asked. Megatron scoffed.

"I'm surprised at you, Breezeway. You are aware that the girl is the offspring of Hayli and Prowl, correct?" Megatron said.

"Of course sir." I replied.

"If we get their daughter, we get them. Hayli has bested us countless times, she must be eliminated..." Megatron said.

"I see what you mean, my lord." I said. Megatron nodded.

"I've changed my mind. Let the agent escape, feel free to injure him if you like, he'll take the word back to the Autobots. Tell him that if they want Shimmer returned safely, her parents must give themselves up. After they do, leave it to me to kill Hayli." Megatron said. I saluted, transforming into my jet mode and taking off.

My scanners already picked up two Autobot signals and I stalled my engines before transforming and landing close to them but out of sight. The one called Shimmer was complaining to Blurr.

"No fair! How in the world can you run that fast?" she said. Blurr chuckled.

"YousoundjustlikeBumblebee." Blurr said. I rolled my optics, tired of this already. Activating my jets, I shot out from behind the tree and snatched Shimmer. I knocked her on the head, hard, and she passed out, going limp in my arm. I didn't want a repeat of what she'd done to me with a lamp post. Blurr started to take a step towards me, but I shot him in the leg and he instantly stopped. He pressed a hand to his wound, energon seeping from between his fingers because of the wound in his thigh.

I held Shimmer by one arm, calling down to him.

"It's either her or her parents. Tell them that." I said. I tucked Shimmer, who was still unconscious, under one arm and flew back to the base quickly. Once there, I threw her into a holding cell, but not before removing the two daggers she had hidden under her wrists. I also snapped a pair of special cuffs on her small wrists. If the wearer struggled or tried using processor over matter, they would get a nasty little shock.

Stepping out, I activated the greenish energy barrier around the cell. Startling me a bit, Megatron stepped up behind me.

"Very well done, we'll hail the Autobots in a short while." Megatron said.

-Blurr's POV

This was bad... Hayli had trusted me with Shimmer and now she was gone. I was actually surprised that I had been allowed to live, but I knew it was only because I was meant to be a messenger. I had to get back to the plant and warn them...

I went to run a step and nearly fell on my face when my leg buckled. I cried out, not able to cut it off, and grimaced. I wouldn't be able to run back, but perhaps I could drive. I transformed, crying out again since my leg had to move. I also couldn't keep pressure on it when I was in my alternate mode, and though I drove at a high speed all the way back to the plant, I left a trail of energon from the trees to the front door.

I transformed without slowing down, stumbling and falling when my injured leg took my weight. My momentum caused me to skid into the plant, not the entrance I was planning on... Hayli instantly panicked.

"Primus...They got Shimmer didn't they..." Hayli said. I dropped my gaze to the floor, pressing on my leg to try and get it to stop bleeding.

"Breezewayambushedus.I'msorry, didn'tkillmeisbecauseshemeantmeto bethemessenger..." I said. Ratchet knelt next to me, examining my injured leg as I spoke. Prowl stepped up next to Hayli and responded to me next.

"Messenger for what?" Prowl asked. I sighed, looking them both in the optics.

"Breezewaysaidthatifyouwanted Shimmerback,you'dhavetosacrificeyourselves." I said. Before they could reply, I continued. "Iknowwhatyouarethinking,butIcalculatean 80% ' farasIcanpredict,theyareplanningoneitherkilli ngShimmerinfrontofyouorkilli ngyoutwofirst beforetakingheroffline." I replied solemnly. Hayli was distraught, pacing a few times before stopping.

"What else can we do? At least if I turn myself over they might let her go. I don't see any other choice..." Hayli said. I was silent, not sure what to say.

"Ireallyamatalossastowhattodo now." I said. Ratchet helped me up, though my leg didn't want to take any of my weight. He allowed me to lean on him as he broke off the conversation.

"Come on kid, let's get you fixed up." Ratchet said, leading me back to the medi-lab. He let go of me, motioning at a table. I sat on it dejectedly, I couldn't stop beating myself up about losing Shimmer.

-Shimmer's POV-

I fought awake after Breezeway had thrown me in the holding cell, my optics powering on slowly. I sat up, not holding back the groan of discomfort from my aching head. I looked around, aware that my arms were cuffed behind me. I tried to simply snap them off with processor over matter, but instead yelped in pain when the cuffs zapped me.

Two Decepticons turned to face me when I did, I recognized one as Breezeway and assumed the other was called Megatron. He looked like my mother and father had described him, and fear overrode my circuits as he approached the holding cell.

Sneering slightly, he glanced back at Breezeway.

"It seems our guest is awake, contact the Autobots and let's negotiate..." Megatron said. Breezeway saluted, going to a control panel and typing in something. Quickly, Optimus' face flashed up on a large screen. Megatron walked back over to the screen, raising his head in a regal way.

"Prime...I'm sure you are aware of the situation. So do you agree to the terms or not?" Megatron said. Optimus frowned, stepping aside. Quickly, my mother took his place, her face unlike I had ever seen it before.

"Yes, but with one exception. Let it just be me that sacrifices themselves. Prowl will stay behind." my mom said. My optics widened, and I breathed out a soft 'no...' hoping this was all a bad dream. Megatron glanced at Breezeway, who shrugged and then nodded.

"Very well. I want no more than three accompanying you." Megatron said. My mother nodded.

"Consider it done. Be at the small lake outside of Detroit in one hour, no tricks." Mom said. I stood, calling out louder.

"No! Mom, please don't! No!" I cried. My mother seemed to faintly hear my voice, as she seemed to be looking harder into the screen. She must not have been able to see me, but she glared at Megatron.

"Don't you even think about hurting her, or I'll have her back safe and sound before you can even blink." my mom said before the screen went dark. I dropped to my knees, tears starting to pool in my optics. I called louder, nearly screaming even though she couldn't hear me.

"NO! Please! Mom, Don't!" I cried. I bowed my head, only aware of the sound of my own grief. I heard a small hum start up, and I only saw a few bolts of yellow electricity flick across the floor of the holding cell before my systems went offline and I was forced into stasis.

-Hayli's POV-

I sighed after disconnecting the screen, turning to Prowl.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." I said. Prowl shook his head.

"I'm coming." Prowl said. I motioned Optimus to follow us, and I was just about to leave when Blurr limped out of the medi-lab, Ratchet on his tail.

"Iwillaccompanyyouaswell." Blurr said. Ratchet put a hand on him.

"Oh no you don't." Ratchet said. Blurr sidestepped away from him and took a few steps towards us.

"IamtrulysorrythatIwasnotable toprotectyourdaughter,pleaseallowmetogo." Blurr said. I smiled for a half second, nodding.

"Alright." I said, activating my jet pack and flying out with the three following behind.

...

I touched down in the secluded spot by the lake, the others behind me transformed and Prowl walked up next to me. Not long after that, the sound of jet engines was plainly heard and Megatron himself dropped to the ground about thirty feet in front of us, Breezeway at his side.

Breezeway had a small, dark blue form slung over her shoulder, it was Shimmer. Her hands were cuffed and she was unconscious, but thankfully she looked unhurt. Megatron motioned to Breezeway, who stepped up slightly.

"As you can see, I've held up my end of the bargain. Hayli, disarm yourself and we can proceed with the tradeoff." Megatron said. I took a deep breath, unsheathing my sword and laying it on the ground. I deactivated my blasters as well, standing straight. Megaton gave a small nod, and Breezeway started walking forward with my daughter. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back to see Prowl. He pulled me close for an instant before walking at my side to the middle of the clearing.

Breezeway slid Shimmer off of her shoulder, holding her in one arm as she reached for me. Prowl took Shimmer at the same instant that Breezeway grabbed my arm and jerked me forward. I looked over my shoulder to see Prowl break off Shimmer's cuffs and her optics started to flicker on. Prowl backed up to Optimus and Blurr, standing broken Sparked at the other side of the clearing.

Breezeway hauled me in front of Megatron, spinning me to face my team members and forcing me to my knees. I heard Shimmer clearly cry out "No!" but she was safe, that was all that mattered. I bent my head, not looking at my team. I then heard Megatron unsheathe his own sword and sensed him draw back.

"Any last words, Autobot?" he said. I remained silent, and sensed him draw back further. I closed my optics, waiting for the sting of his blade and my death. I felt a wind rushing by my face and then the sound of Megatron's sword piercing armor. Oddly enough, I felt no pain. I opened my optics, confused, and felt something drip onto the armor on my back. I spun around, gasping at the sight.

Blurr was facing me, Megatron's sword driven through his chest. Energon steadily dripped from his chest and he had his optics tightly shut, grimacing. I scrambled away, quietly speaking almost to myself.

"Blurr...no..." I said. I stood, shaking with a combination of shock, rage, and grief. I could almost feel my expression darkening, and I heard Shimmer call my name once, but not as a scared child. No, she sounded like a fully grown, seasoned warrior.

"Mom, catch." she said. Without looking, I caught my sword that she had tossed in my direction, holding it straight at my side.

Megatron glared at the pale blue speed bot impaled on his blade. He shoved Blurr to the ground, yanking out his sword in the process.

"This is where it ends." I growled. Lunging forward, I dodged Breezeway's shot and Megatron's swipe, slashing downward with my sword as the others joined in behind me.

...

I leaned against my sword, panting, but we had a victory of our own. Megatron laid offline on the ground. I had never fought that hard in my life, but we had all contributed to the task. Breezeway was seriously wounded, she couldn't even transform and she was pouring energon from all the wounds we'd inflicted. Immediately after the fight though, I ran to Blurr, who was on his side on the ground.

I knelt by him right as he had a coughing fit that left the grass next to him splattered with his energon. Frowning, I gently worked my arm under him and started to get him up. He tried his best, but he hissed in a breath in pain. Optimus had already transformed, and I helped Blurr, practically carrying him. I helped him onto the back of Optimus' truck mode, and he idled a moment, conversing briefly.

"Are you coming along?" Optimus said. I glanced at Prowl and Shimmer, then nodded. Optimus drove off, and I took to the air as Prowl and my daughter transformed and followed behind him. Optimus put on his siren, and Prowl did as well, driving up in front of Optimus and escorting him.

Traffic thankfully got out of our way, and we were at the base quickly. Optimus drove straight to the medi-lab, having already alerted Ratchet. I followed, though Prowl and Shimmer hung back. Ratchet had already prepped the medi-lab, and after Optimus helped Blurr onto a table and stepped back, Ratchet went instantly into field medic mode.

"Primus, what happened to the kid?" Ratchet said. Blurr had a tight grimace on his face and his optics were shut as well, though he was still alive.

"He jumped in front of me... he took Megatron's sword for me." I said. Ratchet attached Blurr to a Spark monitor and gave him an energon drip as well. The beat on the monitor was erratic and very fast. Ratchet frowned, equipping the scope over his eye. Optimus left, but I stayed behind, wanting to see if Blurr would be alright. Ratchet explained briefly, almost to himself, about Blurr's condition.

"He's bad... a bot like him usually has a slightly elevated Spark beat, but it shouldn't be that fast or unsteady. Megatron's sword missed his Spark, but it damaged his intake system and severed an energon line. We Autobots don't necessarily need to breathe like humans, but without cool air to regulate our systems we would overheat and go offline." Ratchet said. Blurr heard this, and cracking open his optics his gaze landed on me. I bit my lip.

"Just do whatever you can to fix him. Don't let him go offline, I've lost too many that were close to me, and it would just be another victory for the Decepticons that are left." I said. Ratchet nodded, going to work on Blurr. Blurr's gaze landed on me again, though this time he spoke. Again, it sounded odd when he wasn't talking fast, but at least I could understand him.

"Hayli...don't worry. I'm not ready to join the Realm of All Sparks just yet. I'll keep fighting, just as long as you will." Blurr said. I nodded once.

"You've got a deal." I said quietly. Blurr broke his grimace for an instant to flash a brief smile, but flinched when Ratchet touched the wound on his chest. I could tell Ratchet didn't want to put him in stasis because he was still unstable, but he used his EMP generator and fired at Blurr's chest. I could tell this brought Blurr relief; he relaxed slightly and didn't jerk when Ratchet started his repairs. I laid a hand on Blurr's shoulder comfortingly before retreating from the medi-lab.

Shimmer ran up to me at once, everything from her ordeal coming in an outflow of emotion at once. I let her hug me, and put my arm around her comfortingly. She had grown insanely fast, and was now almost as tall as me. Ratchet also said she had the mental process equal to a fifteen year old, and would stay at that level for some time before gradually she would excel at everything.

"Is Blurr going to be okay?" she said.

"I don't know sweetie. But if there's anyone that can fix him, it's Ratchet." I said. Shimmer took a breath, stepping back from me and giving a nod. I went to the room that Prowl, Shimmer and I shared, though Shimmer had been bunking with Sari recently. Shimmer followed me, and once in our room she danced in front of me, blocking my path.

"Please promise me something." she said. Curious, I tilted my head.

"And what is that?" I asked. Shimmer got a pleading expression on her face.

"If something like that should ever happen again, please, don't turn yourself over. I know I'm your daughter and all, but come on. You're one of the greatest heroes of Cybertronian history, and I'm just a nobody." she said. I sighed, stepping forward and lifting her chin so she was looking at me and not the floor.

"Don't ever think that you are worthless. Ever. You ARE my daughter, and Prowl's, that makes you insanely special. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Your processor over matter is unlike any of us have ever seen, you're deadly accurate with your daggers, and you are easy to get along with. Hero though I may be, it comes with a price. The Decepticons are always after me, you see how many battle scars I have, and because of them I'm minus an eye." I said.

"I guess so, but what good can I do, I'm not even a year old, and I'm even smaller than Bumblebee." Shimmer said. I smiled, dropping my hand from her chin.

"Age or size isn't everything. Remember, only about three years ago I was fully human, not a care in the world, and only just turned seventeen at that. The next thing I knew I was with the Autobots and a part of their world. You see, greatness can come from anywhere, even small packages like us." I said, poking her good-naturedly in the chest. Shimmer laughed a bit, though trailed it off.

"You still didn't promise though. I don't want to lose you." She said.

"And I'll do everything in my power to stay alive, but you are more important to me than my own existence. Did I tell you I lost my family all at once? The Decepticons destroyed my old home and my mother was dead before I even got there. Megatron mortally wounded my little sister before my eyes, she died in my arms." I said, shaking off the terrible flashback and the image of Tess's blood covering my armor. Shimmer shook her head.

"No you didn't tell me, and that sounds awful, but please, promise me!" she begged. I smirked.

"Tell you what, you don't have to worry about your little deal." I said. Shimmer frowned.

"Why?" she said, upset.

"Because," I replied, "we're going to kill every fragging Decepticon that's left."

...

~Breezeway's POV

Urg! Those stupid Autobots! We had Hayli in our grasp and then that stupid speed bot had to get in the way. I had to admit, I wasn't expecting that. Thanks to the slight confusion he caused, Megatron was offline and I wasn't far from it. I had slashes from Hayli's sword and Optimus' ax, and I had a shuriken still embedded in my wing.

Glaring, I ripped it from my armor and dropped it to the ground below. My engines were hardly functioning and I barely even made it back to the base. My systems too hazed to fly anymore, my engines died and I stalled, crash-landing into the base. I grimaced as I impacted with the unyielding stone floor, and I felt my armor crack where I'd hit. I lay on my stomach, too pained to move much. A few of my Decepticon comrades were in the main hangar when I crashed, the ones I'd caught a glimpse of when I fell were Lugnut, Blitzwing, Starscream, and one of his clones, Skywarp.

As soon as I crashed, Skywarp squealed in terror and jumped behind Starscream.

"What the slag was that!?" he cried. I groaned and rolled onto my back, my armor creaking against its own ragged edges. Energon still flowing from my wounds and already forming a pool under me. Blitzwing wore his icy persona, and quickly knelt by me.

"By ze All Spark vhat happened to ju!?" he exclaimed. I spoke in a strained voice, a wheeze audible when I did.

"Autobots...tradeoff went wrong... Blurr...got in the way... Megatron impaled him... instead of Hayli..." I choked out. Starscream shoved his cowardly clone away, kneeling next to Blitzwing.

"And what about Megatron?" Starscream asked. I glanced at Lugnut before responding.

"Offline." I answered. Lugnut had a predictable reaction...

"WHAT?! Our wise and almighty master is no more?! You coward! You should have stayed and fought like a true Decepticon! You shall pay for your insolence! You-" Lugnut was ranting when Blitzwing's persona changed to hothead for a brief moment.

"Shut up ju overgrown can opener! Breezeway did fight, don't ju see how badly she is injured?! Go blow off jour steam to somevone who cares!" Blitzwing said before changing back to icy. Lugnut seemed to cool down a little, though he left the room.

"Skywarp, make yourself useful and go alert Shockwave that we've got a casualty. Now!" Starscream ordered his clone. Skywarp scurried off immediately, and Starscream stood back.

"This may be a bad time... but I suppose someone has to take over after Megatron's unfortunate demise..." Starscream started. I gave him a death glare the best I could.

"I don't really...give a crap...but would one of you mind...lending a servo...? I'm not exactly...in the mood to go...offline today." I said. Blitzwing glanced over my damaged frame which had been broken further by my crash. He slid one of his servos under my shoulders and back, careful of my wings, and lifted my legs with the other. I tried to hide my pain, but I couldn't help crying out when he lifted me from the ground.

Starscream and Blitzwing both looked concerned, and though Blitzwing hurried carefully to the med-bay, his every step jarred me and I had to bite back more than one cry. Skywarp was in the med-bay, though standing well away from all the activity. Shockwave had prepared quickly, and though he wasn't a med-bot like Ratchet, he'd had a fair amount of medical training and experience.

Blitzwing laid me on a table, and I couldn't stop the yelp of pain from my wings that were injured and now pinned under me. Shockwave didn't have all the equipment that the Autobots did, but I trusted him to keep me online. He also didn't have an EMP generator, so this was probably going to be a painful time unless he put me in stasis.

"Blitzwing, come here." Shockwave said. Blitzwing complied, stepping forward.

"Jes?" he replied anxiously.

"Hold still." Shockwave answered, forcing a needle through the armor over Blitzwing's wrist. Blitzwing flinched but didn't say anything, wordlessly watching his energon bubble from the open end of the needle. Shockwave connected a line to the needle and then connected the other end to a second needle, which he promptly shoved into the crook of my elbow, explaining as he did.

"We don't have time to wait, Blitzwing, just keep your arm higher than Breezeway's and gravity will do the rest. I'll disconnect you when she's gotten enough energon back into her system." Shockwave said. Blitzwing nodded, settling out of Shockwave's way but still close enough where the needles in both our arms didn't tug.

Shockwave picked up his stasis inducer, thankfully, but when he went to program it he cursed to himself. Blitzwing glanced at him, inquiring.

"Vhat is ze matter?" he asked. Shockwave shook his head, setting the inducer down.

"The fragging thing is malfunctioning; I'll have to fix it later." Shockwave said. I groaned inwardly, but Shockwave approached the side of the table anyway. I shifted my head painfully to see him easier, and he spoke in a tone I hadn't heard him use before.

"I apologize ahead of time for this." he said. My processor was already shorting out, my vision kept flickering, but I focused enough to reply.

"Apologize...for what?" I asked. Shockwave looked like he would have been sympathetic, and I only had time to register his voice and the image of him drawing back.

"It's for your own good." Shockwave said. A blinding blow then struck me in the side of the head and a white light flashed before my optics before I sunk into stasis.

...

Hayli's POV

I sat up in the tree in I and Prowl's room, meditating and planning how exactly to finish off the Decepticons once and for all. Blurr wouldn't be able to help, and depending on how badly he was hurt, Ratchet may have to stay behind to monitor his condition. That left me, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Optimus, and Sari, not to mention Shimmer. My daughter was proving herself a formidable warrior, even at her extremely young age.

Deep in thought, I didn't sense Prowl until he dropped on a branch directly in front of me, scaring the crap out of me in the process. I startled and lost my balance on the branch, sliding sideways I slipped off and had to grab the branch and swing back around to where I'd been sitting. Prowl had a small smirk on his face.

"A bit edgy today? Usually you always know when I'm coming." Prowl said. I glared at him half-heartedly.

"I'm surprised you're hiding it so well. Our daughter was kidnapped, I was almost taken offline, and now Blurr is badly injured." I said. Prowl shrugged.

"Many years of practice, but yes, it has been a difficult day for me as well. What exactly were you up to?" he asked. I took a breath.

"Planning. We're going to take the rest of the Decepticons offline while we have a chance. Breezeway was hurt seriously as well, they'll be down a fighter. With Megatron offline as well, they'll be in at least a sense of disarray. The biggest problem I see is with Starscream and his clones. He's probably the best fighter next to Breezeway, and there are five copies of him to deal with." I said. Prowl considered a moment, and he got a look in his optics like his mind was working deeply.

"You're right in those aspects...but we're still outnumbered." Prowl said. I frowned, chewing on my lip.

"Yes, but only by one, that is, if Breezeway isn't fighting. And if we get lucky and Ratchet comes along, we're evenly matched. One 'bot to one 'con." I said. Prowl nodded.

"I agree, we should strike while our enemy is at its weakest. You should inform Optimus and the others of your plan." Prowl said. I dipped my head once, leaping from the tree and landing lightly on the floor, Prowl not far behind. I walked briskly to the main room, where everyone, minus Blurr and Ratchet, was. Optimus turned his head when I entered the room, and reading the look on my face he asked me.

"What is it? Is there something you need to talk about?" Optimus asked. I nodded.

"I've been thinking, and I think that we should attack the Decepticons while they're down and we've got the element of surprise. Regardless of what any of you think, I'm going. Even if they take me offline I'm taking some of them down with me." I said. Optimus considered.

"Under normal circumstances I'd be a bit more reluctant to agree, but the Decepticons have been getting much bolder, it won't be long before they are the ones that attack us. So, let me be the first one to join you." Optimus said. A grin spread on my face and I turned to the rest of the team, as well as Jazz and Shimmer.

"Who's with me?" I asked, stretching out my hand. Quickly, but silently, everyone circled around and stacked their servos on top of mine. I dipped my head, dropping my hand from the group. Right after I did, Ratchet emerged from the medi-lab, wiping off his servos on a rag. Shimmer took a half step towards him.

"Blurr...?" she started to inquire when Ratchet waved her off.

"Is going to be fine. I repaired the damage to his intake system and energon line and he's stable. He's resting now, and seems like he's willing to stay down for a while. I heard everything from my lab, and I'm coming with you guys." Ratchet said. Shimmer seemed grateful.

Bumblebee interrupted.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!" he said. Optimus nodded, giving his well known command.

"Autobots! Transform and roll out!" he said. We all complied, well the ones who could transform anyway. Sari and I hovered in our jet packs. Shimmer got my attention briefly before we exited the plant.

"Mom?" she said. I looked down at the small blue motorcycle idling next to Prowl.

"Yes?" I responded.

"Let's go kick some Decepticon aft."

...

-Starscream's POV

"Shockwave! Why the frag did you just do that?!" I exclaimed after he knocked Breezeway in the head and she was now unconscious. Shockwave gave me a brief glance before turning to Breezeway and taking hold of one of her wings, it was bent and at an odd angle, no doubt broken. He replied as he bent her wing back until it was straight again, the metal making an awful screeching sound as he did.

"Would you really have wanted to see her conscious for this?" Shockwave asked before giving a quick jerk and putting Breezeway's wing back in place. I made a face, begrudgingly agreeing with him. If her wings were half as sensitive as mine, she'd be begging to be knocked out.

"I suppose...make sure she's repaired. As new leader of the Decepticons I give that as an order." I said. Blitzwing switched to his random persona, though he was still connected to Breezeway by the energon line.

"OOoooh! Can I be jour second in command? Can I? Can I?" he said. I rolled my optics, starting to leave the room. I called over my shoulder at Shockwave.

"Alert me when she's stable." I said, exiting the med-bay.

...

~Hayli's POV

I flew next to Sari on the way to the Decepticons' base, though none of us spoke our plan was clear. Sari and I were to drop in on the base and create a diversion until the others could reach where we were. We didn't want to be down any fighters, but precautionary measures left Bulkhead by the back entrance and Bumblebee on the edge of the open crater to take care of any deserters.

The mood was grim, though hopeful, since we still had the element of surprise. On the way there, we passed by Megatron's offline body, evidently his followers hadn't done anything with him yet. Curiously, I noticed he was missing his sword.

As we neared the base, I gave Optimus a signal and gained altitude with Sari at my side, hovering out of sight for a moment I talked quietly to her.

"You ready, squirt?" I asked. She gave a thumbs up, equipping her helmet. I did the same, firing up my jet pack and making a grand entrance, Sari not far behind. I slammed down my face mask as soon as I hit the ground, and unsheathed my sword at the same time. I was pleased with the confusion, Starscream, Slipstream, and Sunstorm as well as Lugnut were in the main hangar when we landed, and they were taken off guard by the barrage of fire that Sari and I pelted them with as we waited for the rest.

They regrouped quickly, and started firing shots of their own. I singled out Lugnut as my target, though I would break away and keep the few that were there busy as well. It wasn't long before I heard the sound of a loud siren and Prowl shot into the hangar in his vehicle mode. He transformed as he was still moving and used his boosters to plow over Sunstorm. Shimmer darted from the tunnel next, attacking whoever got near her. She was followed by Jazz, Optimus, and Ratchet, and the hangar was soon in chaos.

The remainder of Starscream's clones ran to the hangar, but I noticed that Shockwave and Blitzwing were still absent, as well as Breezeway. Pushing the thought aside for the moment, I focused on my target. Lugnut had armed one of his explosives and was drawing back to smash the ground. I quickly slashed my sword at his leg, and he bellowed in pain, losing his balance. I darted behind him, leaping up and driving my sword to the hilt into his back. He was wide enough my blade didn't go all the way through, but I felt a slight jolt through my weapon that meant I'd hit his Spark.

Yanking out my sword, I dropped in front of Lugnut in time to see him stagger and fall. The color faded from his armor and his optics flickered off. One down, nine to go. I glanced up to see the rest of my allies tackling Starscream and his clones, the trouble was, with our initial surprise gone they were regrouping. I saw Starscream answer his commlink and smirk before he disconnected. He ordered Sunstorm and Skywarp to fall back to guard a hallway, though Blitzwing and Shockwave now joined the fight from the same direction. I put it together that Breezeway must have been in that direction, and they were trying to protect her.

Starscream took a step in front of his clones, and he brought out something I hadn't been expecting. In his right servo he held Megatron's sword. I glared, shouting over at Optimus and Jazz, who were busy with Blitzwing.

"I've got Starscream, just be careful!" I shouted. Optimus nodded, ducking out of the way from a shot. I turned back to Starscream, bringing up my sword in a defensive manner. I gave Starscream a 'bring it on' gesture and he growled, circling me. I did the same to him, looking for an opening. I could tell from the way he was holding Megatron's sword that he hadn't had much practice with one.

I stopped, facing off, waiting for Starscream to charge. I didn't have to wait long. He raised Megatron's sword and lunged at me. I sidestepped, but underestimated his speed. I felt a piercing pain high in my left side, and glancing down I saw energon pouring down my side. I pressed my hand to my wound, glaring as Starscream smirked cockily. Shimmer called out, and I glanced at her to see her leaping off of Slipstream, who was now blinded by my daughter's daggers.

"Mom?! Are you okay?" she said. I turned my attention back to Starscream as he launched at me again. My sword clashed with his, though he was stronger and much bigger than I was. I strained against him, but my feet started to slide across the stone floor.

"I'll be okay! Finish her off!" I called to Shimmer. She nodded, and I saw from the periphery of my vision what happened. She leaped up and swung off of Slipstream's arm, getting more height she wrapped her arm around Slipstream's neck and thrust one of her daggers deep into the side of Slipstream's throat.

Slipstream coughed, staggering, and Shimmer dropped from her as she started to die. Energon gushed from her throat and she hit her knees, the color already fading from her armor. At the same time, I heard Thundercracker scream and located him across the hangar. Ratchet had him pinned with his magnets and Sari had blasted him repeatedly. Breaking free, he flew up to the open hole in the ceiling, only to be brought down by Bumblebee's stingers. Shimmer finished him off in a strange way, I'd never seen her do anything like it before.

Focusing, though not as hard as Prowl, Jazz or I would have to, she started to use processor over matter on Thundercracker. He started to whimper and put his hands over his chest. Shimmer didn't drag whatever she was doing, simply giving a shove with her mind. Thundercracker gave a death scream, twisting in agony before his armor faded. A stream of energon ran from the corner of his mouth, and the nearest I could tell, my daughter had used processor over matter to make his Spark explode.

Starscream seemed distracted, and I took my opportunity to get in a blow. A slash across his chest plate brought his attention back to me. He glared menacingly, his blood red optics leveled to my blue visor. I got another death cry in my audio receptors and searched the hangar for the owner. Prowl and Shimmer were just getting out of the way of Shockwave's body as he fell. He was offline before he hit the ground. I smirked at Starscream, who was looking increasingly desperate. It wouldn't be long before Ramjet and Blitzwing were taken down, and then we could overpower Starscream and the remainder of his clones before our final target, Breezeway.

Starscream seemed to come to this conclusion as well, and rallied his efforts to kill me. He tried to psych me into thinking we would fail, but I knew he was bluffing.

"You pathetic little insect of an Autobot, do you really think you can win. You are out powered and outgunned. And on top of that, it looks like you and your friends are tacking up more injuries as we speak." Starscream said. I looked around the hangar at the rest of my team. They were getting hammered by Seeker fire and Blitzwing was doing his best as well. Unlike Starscream's clones, he didn't have a scratch. Whereas my friends looked a little battered. Everyone had minor scorch marks and blaster fire wounds, as well as a few cuts, even Shimmer was a bit roughed up. Optimus had a deep wound on his leg, but he was fighting with barely a limp. I was surprised to see that Jazz's visor had been pulled off in the battle, and I located it in several pieces on the ground. He didn't seem very fazed, though Prowl would give him a heads up every once in a while. I turned back to Starscream.

"You don't look good yourself, you've only got two of your trine left, and the only other fighter isn't sane half of the time." I said. Blitzwing spun to hothead, blasting Optimus and Jazz as he called to me. Ratchet pulled Jazz out of the way with his magnets before he could get fried.

"I heard zat!" he cried. I turned my attention back to Starscream.

"Let's dance, big ugly." I said. Starscream lunged at me, and I slashed at his thigh, my blade slicing deep into his armor. As I fought, I saw Sari, Prowl, and Shimmer advance to take on Sunstorm and Skywarp. Sunstorm ranted on as usual.

"Oh, what a magnificent job you've been doing of killing us all, I'm certain you'll manage to take us offline as well. May I add that the color of Shimmer's armor is simply lovely?" Sunstorm complimented. As Sari and Prowl launched their attack, Shimmer hung back a moment. Skywarp wailed in fear before activating his rockets.

"I'm getting out of here!" he cried. He started to jet for the hole in the ceiling but Shimmer suddenly got a hold of him with processor over matter and slammed him into the ground. He skidded and landed near Optimus, who in turn briefly took his attention from Blitzwing to swing his axe downward into Skywarp's chest. I saw energon fly through the air, and Skywarp squealed in pain. Optimus wrenched his axe from Skywarp and went back to his original foe, leaving Skywarp to bleed out on the ground.

I brought my attention back to my foe a second too late. He was aiming to pierce my Spark, but I danced away far enough that his blade only skimmed my shoulder, nonetheless it stung and started to bleed. Prowl and Sari had gotten behind Sunstorm, now the only one of Starscream's clones that remained alive, and had started to herd him away from the hallway he was supposed to be guarding. They were now in the middle of the floor, and started their process of taking him down as well. I gave a smirk.

"Looks like you and Blitzbrain are going to be the only ones left." I said. Starscream seemed uneasy, though oddly a grin spread across his face. I was confused, though it became clear when I heard a voice behind me.

"Not quite." a female voice said and I whirled to see Breezeway behind me, her blasters leveled at my head. She looked rough, dried energon covered her armor and she didn't look much better than when I'd left her in our last encounter. Blitzwing noticed what was going on and fired his ice cannons at me. I almost got away, but one blast trapped my foot to the ground. I struggled to free myself, yanking against the ice, but it was no use. Breezeway powered up her blasters and I waited for the end.

All of a sudden, I felt the ice around my foot shatter and glanced down to see one of Prowl's shurikens close to me. Almost in the same movement, I kicked Prowl's weapon back over to him and hit the floor like my legs had been cut off right as Breezeway fired. Her shot intended for me instead hit Starscream in his already injured thigh and he cried out, holding his leg with his free hand. I side kicked Breezeway and sent her flying, and turned back to Starscream. I heard Sunstorm finally go down with a groan, but didn't bother to look. Leaping into the air, I brought my sword up and angled it straight down. Starscream raised his sword as well, though I plunged mine deep into his chest, into his Spark.

He lost his fight all at once, crumpling to his knees. I pulled my sword out of him, leaping backwards. Breezeway and Blitzwing seemed to share a silent affirmation of something, and before I knew it, Breezeway had taken off into the sky. Blitzwing wasn't far behind, breaking away from the fight he caught up to her. I thought Bumblebee would bring them back down, but Breezeway fired at him, getting in a few good shots. Bee lost his balance from where he'd been standing at the edge of the crater and he fell into the hangar. Thankfully, Ratchet caught him with his magnets and lowered him to the ground. He wasn't seriously hurt, he could still walk easily and didn't seem in much pain.

I was frustrated that Blitzwing and Breezeway had escaped, after all, Blitzwing had been the one that had given the twins their death sentence. All in all, we had done good though. Almost every Decepticon that was left was offline, now all we had to do was have Ratchet repair us. Everyone was trying to cool their systems down, but we had all fought bravely and nearly accomplished our task. Optimus said as much, addressing us all.

"What we've done today will no doubt go down in Autobot history, I'd like to congratulate everyone on their bravery. We should be heading back to the base so Ratchet can start patching us up." Optimus said. Bulkhead, by this time, had rejoined us when the firing had silenced. Ratchet got our attention after Optimus had finished though, and what he said chilled me to the core.

"Yeah Prime, about that... I have no problem patching you guys up, but I ran a quick medical scan on Breezeway as she was taking off." he stated. Prowl frowned.

"What about her?" he asked. Ratchet's voice was grim.

"I picked up two energy signals from her...she's carrying." Ratchet said. I groaned, now we'd have to take out one more Decepticon, that is, after we tracked them down later.

"That's just great... though Optimus is right, we should..." I was saying as I started to get light headed and trailed off. Ratchet looked at me intently.

"You okay, kid?" he asked. Shimmer stepped in front of me, scanning my frame. I didn't really feel much pain, only from the shallow cut on my shoulder, oddly enough. I saw Shimmer's optics widen and she stepped back from me. Her mouth moved but no sound came out, though she found her voice quickly.

"Ratchet...? Ratchet!" she said sharply and stepped away from me. I still didn't know why I felt woozy or why Shimmer was freaking out, but Ratchet knelt in front of me and scanned my frame as well.

"What's wrong, Shimmer?" he asked. She shakily pointed at a spot directly under my chest plate, which I couldn't see. Ratchet leaned back a bit when he saw what was wrong with me, though I was starting to panic a bit because I didn't know what was going on.

"What the slag are you worried about!?" I cried. Ratchet, in answer, gently touched a spot right below my chest plate, and immediately an intense pain shot through me.

"OW!" I yelped, looking down. He showed me his hand, which just in a touch was covered in my energon. I frowned, and using my sword as I mirror I held it in front of me. I saw then why Shimmer had freaked out.

There was a wide wound from where Starscream must've impaled me. I must have not felt it because I was too focused on the task at hand. It was somewhat hidden by the edge of my armor, and if I was standing just right the only way you could tell I was injured was by the energon that was gushing from the wound and down my stomach. I staggered back a step, my vision going fuzzy.

I faintly felt Ratchet catch me before I could hit the ground, and Shimmer's anxious face was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

...

~Ratchet's POV

_Oh slag..._ I thought to myself when I saw Hayli's wound. It was easily hidden because she'd been hit under the edge of her chest plate. It was also pouring energon so fast I didn't know how she was still standing or if we could get back to the base in time. Right as I thought this, the light behind Hayli's visor started to flicker and she stumbled, in stasis before she would've hit the ground.

I dove forward and caught her, noticing something that gave me hope and another that put it in jeopardy again. When I'd caught her, I'd pushed her upper half forward, and I noticed the flow of energon from her wound was considerably less. Experimentally, I leaned her back and energon once more flooded from the wound. I pushed her upper half back up to where I'd had it, and the flow lessened again. It appeared whenever she was in a certain position, the edge of her armor cut off the supply of whatever was bleeding.

I also noticed when I'd caught her, that she had another wound high on her left side. It was also trickling energon, but not as serious as where she'd been stabbed. The wound on her side was threatening as well, but it appeared that she'd sidestepped fast enough that Starscream had only gotten a short, though deep, slice in her armor. Thank Primus that it wasn't another wound like the one on her chest. I called Optimus over, noting he had a pretty nasty blaster wound on his leg. He complied with barely a limp.

"What can I do, Ratchet?" he asked. I glanced at his leg again, then around at the rest of the bots in the room. We were all pretty banged up, though Hayli was definitely the worst. I had seen that Jazz had lost his visor, and without it I knew he was completely blind, I'd have to make him a new one later.

"Are you sure you're okay with that leg, Prime?" I asked. He glanced down and nodded.

"I'll be fine." he said. I nodded, still keeping Hayli leaned forward to stem the flow of energon.

"You can transform, for one, you'll need to get Hayli out of here." I said. He did so, and I picked Hayli up, lying her on the back of Optimus' vehicle mode, though I was uncertain of what to do now. Prime couldn't haul Hayli and myself, so I glanced at the rest of the Autobots before ordering Prowl forward.

"Prowl, get over here." I said. He scurried to me quickly, anxiously looking at Hayli.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but she certainly won't be unless you keep her tilted forward so she doesn't bleed out before we get back to base." I said, stepping aside so Prowl could support her. He sat behind Hayli, who was still unconscious, and kept her in the exact position I'd put her in. Satisfied with that dilemma, I turned and surveyed the rest of my team.

"Shimmer, keep next to Jazz on the way back, guide him back to the base. He can't see. Sari, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, are you three alright for the drive?" I asked. They all nodded, and Bumblebee spoke quickly.

"Yeah we're fine, just some scratches and dents. Let's go, Hayli's not looking too good." he said. I glanced back at Hayli, seeing that Bumblebee was right. Her armor was looking a little dull, which wasn't a good sign. I transformed, as did everyone else, and started to head out. Bumblebee and Bulkhead took the lead, blaring their sirens along with Optimus and me. Shimmer pulled almost even with me, Jazz sticking close to her. She was doing a good job of leading him, telling him when we needed to turn.

It was quite a drive back to the base, and I was really concerned about Hayli. Her armor had faded more, and was now a grayish-blue instead of the light blue it normally was. I upped my speed back to the plant, my processor going a million miles an hour as I tried to work. Optimus pulled into my lab, and Prowl lifted Hayli onto the table next to Blurr. He had woken up with the commotion, and was trying to get up and move out of the way. I pushed him back.

"Just stay there, you aren't in very good shape either." I said. Blurr complied, though looked worried for Hayli. Prowl stood uncertainly, still holding Hayli in the position I'd put her in to stop the energon flow. Optimus transformed and backed out, leaving me to my duty.

"Keep her like that for just a nanoclick, but hold still." I said, preparing a transfusion for Hayli. I stuck a needle in Prowl's arm, and gladly hit my mark the first time because energon started filling the transfusion bag quickly. Prowl did as I had told him, and I disconnected the needle in his arm. Quickly reattaching a new one, I mainlined it in Hayli's arm and hung the transfusion over her head. Now the real work would begin.

"Okay Prowl, start laying her back, but slowly, I want to see if I can figure out what was hit." I said. Prowl slowly did so, and as I watched, energon started streaming down her abdomen again. I told him to hold her a moment where she was, and briefly felt inside the wound. I was worried at how deep it went, and the angle concerned me too. To my dread, I felt a slight shock and knew that Megatron's sword had pierced her to the Spark, though I didn't know if her Spark was damaged at all.

I retreated briefly, attaching a Spark monitor to her. The beat was slow, but even and steady. Breathing a quick sigh of relief, I felt inside her wound again and found what was causing her to hemorrhage so severely. The main energon pipeline running from her Spark was cut, though not severed. This explained why she was in a better condition when leaned forward. I told Prowl he could put her down, though I'd have to work fast.

I used a scalpel to widen the wound and make it easier for me to work, then relocated the pipeline and soldered it shut. The effect was sudden, and relieving. Energon stopped pumping out of her frame and stayed where it belonged, and addition to Prowl's energon draining into her I thought she'd make a full recovery. I soldered the wound closed in her side, and patched the scratch on her shoulder as well. I thought she'd be waking up sometime soon, though I called Optimus in and repaired his leg.

In fact, I had patched everyone's injuries, including my own, made Jazz a new visor, and Hayli still wasn't conscious. I was concerned, usually no bot was out this long, but she wasn't offline. Her Spark was still beating, and her armor retained its color, though it was still a bit gray. I was confused, and getting an idea I attached her to a processor wave monitor. I confirmed my fear. There was absolutely nothing showing up on the scanner. Prowl saw as well.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I'm not sure, for some reason she's in a coma." I said. Prowl frowned.

"What does that mean? Or rather, how did it happen? Could going to long without proper energon supply have something to do with it?" he asked.

"I'm not 100% sure... Maybe the nick to her Spark had something to do with it..." I said.

"But... what exactly does it mean now that she's in a coma? How do we bring her out of it?" Prowl asked. I again shook my head.

"Basically, it means the lights are on but nobody's home. And we can't bring her out of it. She'll either come back herself or..." I trailed off, though Prowl grimly finished.

"She'll never wake up." he said.

...

~Hayli's POV

I jolted awake seemingly a few minutes later, though when I became aware of my surroundings, I was back in the bright, white place I'd visited before. I sat, looking around at my surroundings.

_Oh no...I'm offline for good now..._ I thought to myself. Out of nowhere, a familiar, gentle voice spoke.

"No, you are not offline, though in a state similar to it. Your body is in a coma." Yoketron said, offering his servo to me. I took it, and he helped me to my feet. I looked at him, confused.

"But, I just got stabbed, how would it do this?" I asked. Yoketron gave a faint smile.

"It is complicated, but currently, your mind is separated from your body. In a short while, I will allow you to return to your friends, but it may not be like what you are imagining. You will be able to see and hear them, but they won't be able to do the same." Yoketron said. I looked at the ground, then back at Yoketron.

"Why can't I just go back to my body?" I asked. Yoketron put a hand on my shoulder.

"You will not be able to return, unless you have the aid of Sari's key." he said.

"But, the Decepticons stole it, we don't have any idea where it is." I said. Yoketron smiled, reaching out and putting a hand to my forehead. Immediately, my vision rushed and I was seeing a different area, it looked like the Decepticon base. My vision rushed again, taking me down a winding passage, deep into the Decepticon mine. With one final blur, I saw a large rock. My view crept forward before snapping back to where I was standing with Yoketron.

"I think I understand now. But how do I get it?" I asked. Yoketron spoke again.

"You cannot physically manifest yourself in the world, but it will be up to you to figure out how to reach it. Your team may be able to help you, but you will have to get them to understand what you want." he said. I nodded, then realized something.

"Wait, if we get the key back...the twins..." I said. Yoketron gave me a sympathetic look.

"You could ask them yourself." he said. I gave a questioning look, and as suddenly as Yoketron had appeared, he was gone. Before I knew it, there were two twins standing in front of me. They processed this faster than I did, and soon I had them both crushing me in a bear hug.

"Whoa, guys, crushing me!" I joked. They let go of me, and I got a good look at them. There was no evidence of the wounds they had gone offline with, and their armor gleamed like they had just been programmed. I suddenly was hit with a wave of guilt, and looked away from the twins. Jetfire caught my chin and made me look at him and his brother.

"What you did for me was what I had told you to do. Brother had been waiting for me, and suffer I did not. Take it from me now that we are both offline." Jetfire said. I sighed.

"But I hurt you, I..." I argued. Jetfire put his hand over my mouth.

"Do not be worrying about it, I barely felt it. You are good with your aim." he said. I sighed again stepping back.

"I... have a job to do, and... I needed to ask you two something." I said. Jetstorm smiled.

"Anything, just ask away." he said cheerfully.

"For one, I'm not offline, but I can't return to my body without Sari's key." I said. The twins nodded.

"We know that." Jetstorm said.

"Okay then...if you didn't know, I have to somehow figure out how to get Sari's key back, but I have to lead my team there to get it. I have to do that somehow, though I can't be seen or heard." I said. Jetfire nudged his brother.

"We can be helping you with that, old ninja bot is vague, yes?" Jetfire said. I nodded.

"We cannot tell you how to do it, but the ninjas are the key. Shimmer would be best, she is most good at processor over matter, but Prowl or mister Jazz would be of use too." Jetstorm said. I thanked them.

"I'll see what I can do, but I still haven't gotten to ask you what I wanted." I said, continuing. "If we get the key, would you want me to bring you back?" I asked. The twins looked at each other, deliberating.

"Realm of All Sparks is nice...but brother and I only have each other. Other bots are friendly, yes, but we know no one." Jetstorm said. Jetfire spoke next.

"Yes, we've missed you and Shimmer, and the rest of the team... but for some reason we have no urge to leave here." Jetfire said. I nodded.

"I know, I felt the same way when I was offline. I missed Prowl, but I had my mother and sister with me. That was the only bad part when Prowl dragged me back to life using the key. My Spark didn't want to go back, and my mother and sister were clinging to me as I was pulled back into my body." I said.

"That sounds awful...but brother and I only have each other, I do not think it will be as bad if you bring us back." Jetstorm said.

"So do I have your consent if we get the key? I don't want to take you from here if you really don't want to come." I said. The twins looked at each other, then nodded simultaneously.

"Yes, we agree." they said.

"I warn you, the process is not pleasant, and you'll feel a little off for a while, but I'll be hoping to see you again." I said. They nodded, fading away. I felt a twinge of sadness that they were gone, but it gave me renewed hope to find the key. Yoketron took the twins' place.

"You have your answer, are you ready to return, child?" he asked. I took a breath and nodded. Yoketron smiled.

"Very well, I wish you luck." he said. My vision blanked out and I had a brief sensation of falling before I could see again. I was in the plant, more specifically, right in the middle of the medi-lab. Ratchet and Prowl were standing next to a table, and looking a bit closer, I saw it was my body that was lying there. I, rather my body, had a Spark beat, but I saw that on the monitor I had no processor activity. Blurr was now standing in the doorway to the lab, and he was looking a bit grim as well.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Prowl asked. Ratchet shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. The best we can do is leave her here and hope she finds a way back." Ratchet said. Prowl laid his hand on me, not moving, and Ratchet patted him on the shoulder before leaving the lab, taking Blurr with him. Prowl slid his hand from me, speaking softly, little did he know that I could actually hear him.

"Primus Hayli, what have you done this time..." he said. I walked up next to him, trying to put my hand on him, but it passed right through his frame when I did. Stepping back, all I could do was watch him.

Prowl leaned over me, briefly resting his head against mine.

"Don't you dare leave me again... you have to come back. I love you, just remember that." Prowl said, briefly kissing me before settling back in a cross-legged position on the floor. After a while, I noticed something strange about him. It seemed like there was a copy of Prowl sitting just outside his original body, though the copy was ghost-like and shimmering. An idea came to me, and I called out to him.

"Prowl, can you hear me?" I asked. Immediately, the copy disappeared and Prowl stood, looking anxiously at my body. He quickly figured out that I hadn't said anything in the realm he could hear, and out of curiosity, I said his name again. He had no reaction, but disappointed, he settled back on the ground again. When his mind again separated from his body, I tried again.

"Prowl, listen." I said. The ghost-like version of Prowl retreated slightly, but Prowl re-focused and this time he was the one that called to me.

"Hayli? Are you there?" the mind version of him asked. I sighed in relief.

"Yes, I'm here. You have to listen to me, can you see me?" I asked. Prowl seemed to be looking right at me, but even his mind version shook its head.

"No, but I can hear you. What is it?" he asked.

"I've got a problem, if you can't tell. My mind is separated from my body, I guess that's why you can only hear me when you meditate. The thing is, Yoketron told me that I can't go back to my body unless we have Sari's key to help." I said. Prowl looked distraught.

"But, the Decepticons took it, we don't have any idea where they hid it." he said. I smiled, even though he couldn't see me.

"That's where you're wrong. I know how to find it, but somehow I have to guide you and the others there." I said. Prowl's mind version frowned.

"But I can't meditate, talk to you, and relay it to the others at the same time." Prowl said.

"I know, but maybe you won't have to, watch." I said. I walked in front of Prowl, concentrating as if I was using processor over matter. Before long, the overhead light in the lab started to flicker, exactly what I had wanted it to do.

"Hayli? Are you doing that?" his mind version asked. I laughed.

"Yes, evidently I can still use my processor over matter, though I'll admit, it's a lot harder like this." I said. Prowl seemed to think a moment, and he asked a question instead of his mind version while he was still meditating.

"Can you hear me when I'm not talking to you with my mind?" he asked.

"Yes, you don't have to meditate for me to hear you, or see you for that matter." I said. Prowl's mind version retreated back into his body again, and Prowl stood.

"I've got an idea, can you make the light flicker in Morse code so we can see what you're saying?" he asked. I smiled, using my processor over matter to make the light spell out 'Good idea' in code. Prowl grinned. I said a longer phrase, though the more I used my processor over matter, the weaker I felt.

'Need something to manipulate when we're at the Decepticon base, another light would be best. I can lead you that way when we get there.' I said using the light. Prowl nodded.

"I'll get the others, where are you right now?" he asked. I smiled, manipulating the light again.

'Standing right in front of you.' I answered. Prowl seemed a bit taken aback, but nonetheless didn't seem very fazed. He headed out to the main room, where everyone was silent and seemed depressed. Prowl looked out of place with his excited attitude. Optimus noticed immediately.

"Prowl, what's with you? Is Hayli awake?" he asked. Prowl shook his head.

"No, but I know how to get her back. Call me crazy, but she told me how." Prowl said. Everyone looked confused, and out of curiosity, I walked right through Shimmer. Unlike Prowl, she sensed me and stiffened, looking around.

"Mom?" she asked tentatively. I smiled, Shimmer was obviously much more sensitive then I'd thought. Sari looked a little creeped out.

"What, is she like a ghost or something?" she asked. I chuckled to myself, but Prowl answered her.

"No, her mind is separated from her body, but in theory, she has the abilities of a so called 'ghost.' If you can still hear me, Hayli, can you show them what I mean?" Prowl asked. He explained quickly before I started using processor over matter.

"She was making the light flicker in Morse code in the medi-lab, hopefully she'll do it again." Prowl said. I grinned, focusing on one of the fluorescent lights over our heads. I flickered out a short message to the team.

'Hey guys.' I said. Everyone looked relieved and insanely happy. I continued with my message.

'Can't get back to body without key.' I said. Bumblebee frowned.

"But the Decepti-jerks took it..." he said. I flashed with the light again.

'I know how to find it, can guide you there.' I signaled. Optimus looked questioning.

'Is at Decepticon base, deep in caverns. Bring flashlight or something so I can guide you.' I said. Sari ran to her room, coming back with a small flashlight.

"Will this work?" she asked. I flashed the light, spelling out 'yes.' Prowl transformed, revving his engine.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" he urged. Optimus nodded.

"Shimmer, Ratchet, go with Prowl. I wish you luck." Optimus said. The ones appointed to go transformed and sped out, but I found it a bit difficult to keep up. My mind state didn't have a jet pack, so I was forced to run. I wasn't fast enough to keep up, but I didn't tire either. I judged myself to be about fifteen minutes behind my friends by the time I got to the Decepticons' base they were looking around and seemed to be waiting for me. I signaled with the flashlight that Shimmer was holding.

'Sorry, can't move as fast as before. Here now.' I said. Prowl nodded, and Ratchet motioned towards the flashlight.

"Well kid, lead us there." he said. I looked around for what I'd seen in my vision, and noticed a dark, rarely used passage.

'Over there, that tunnel.' I said. Prowl crossed over to the entrance and inspected it.

"Here?" he asked. I spelled out 'yes' and he entered the passageway, motioning the others to follow. I signaled with the flashlight again.

'Follow this tunnel, it's long and winding, but doesn't branch off.' I said. The three complied, and I went with them deep into the Decepticon mine. Shimmer glanced around uneasily after a while. Prowl noticed and looked back at her, though he continued making his way down the passage.

"Are you alright, Shimmer?" he asked. She nodded.

"I'm fine daddy, it's just a little creepy to be this far down." Shimmer replied. Prowl nodded, continuing in silence. I recognized the passage at almost being at its end and signaled.

'Tunnel almost at its end. There's a big rock when you can't go any further...' I was signaling when the flashlight started to flicker on its own. The beam suddenly dimmed and went out, leaving the tunnel in darkness except for the light from everyone's optics. Ratchet sighed.

"That's just great. Now what are we supposed to do?" he said. Prowl continued to the end of the passage, coming to the large rock that was the last thing I'd seen in my vision. He felt around it, searching for a hidden switch or anything that would give him a clue.

"Hayli said something about a large rock before the flashlight went out, I'm assuming this is it." Prowl said, experimentally pushing against the large stone. It didn't really move, but it shifted enough that small pebbles and dust were dislodged, indicating it could be moved.

"Ratchet, lend a servo would you?" Prowl said, leaning his shoulder against the rock. Ratchet did the same, and together, with effort, they managed to roll the rock away from the wall. It had been hiding a small alcove, and within this was Sari's key. Prowl picked it up happily, though Shimmer spoke up.

"Why'd the Decepticons go through so much trouble of hiding it? Evidently they weren't so confident that they'd be able to hold on to it." she said. Ratchet interrupted.

"Even so, we should head back to the plant and use this on Hayli. Agreed?" Ratchet said. Prowl immediately started heading back up the passage, Ratchet and Shimmer following. I decided to hang back, no need to go through the trouble of heading back to the base. I crossed my legs and dropped to the ground, meditating until I was reunited with my body. Creepy factor aside, the tunnel was dark and quiet, making it a good place to focus.

After a while, I felt a sensation I couldn't quite describe and got the brief feeling I was being dragged away before my vision blanked out. The next thing I knew, I was lying on a table in the medi-lab with various I.V.'s in my arm and a Spark monitor attached to me. I wasn't in pain, so I assumed Sari's key had healed me, and I tried to sit up.

Ratchet surprisingly let me, and I looked down to see my serious wound gone, along with the slash in my side and the scratch on my shoulder. Prowl and Shimmer were standing by the table, and Shimmer hugged me tightly.

"Oof! You're getting stronger." I said. Shimmer smiled, and I hugged her back with one arm while Ratchet disconnected the I.V.'s and Spark monitor. When he finished, I slid off the table and crossed over to Prowl, who was holding Sari's key. Ignoring Shimmer and Ratchet, I embraced him, briefly but tightly, before stepping back slightly.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving you, and I love you too." I said. Prowl seemed surprised, he hadn't known I'd heard that display. Shimmer was making a disgusted face, though in good humor, and I actually caught a small smile from Ratchet as he was cleaning up. Huh, the tough old medi-bot had a soft spot after all... I motioned my daughter and Prowl to follow, and exited the lab to the main room. Everyone turned, bright grins on their faces.

"Yo Hayli, you're back!" Jazz exclaimed and I laughed.

"Yeah, I'm back. And here to stay, hopefully." I said. I suddenly remembered there was something I had to do and turned to Ratchet.

"I need a space bridge to Cybertron, and Sari's key." I said. Optimus looked at me doubtfully.

"Hayli...what are you thinking? Don't you remember how upset you were when you were brought back?" Optimus said. I reassured him.

"I know, but the twins talked to me when I was unconscious. They gave me permission to bring them back, I swear to Primus." I said. Optimus nodded.

"Very well. You can go. Jazz, Blurr, you go with her. We'll be waiting for your return." Optimus said. I nodded, and stepped through the space bridge that Ratchet had opened, Jazz and Blurr behind me.

…...

The three of us made our way to the Hero's crypt, filing down to the level where we had laid the twins to rest. The charm they had given me still hung between the two of them, and I went to Jetstorm first. The bandage on his torso still hid the nasty wounds inflicted by Blitzwing, but I had to unravel a section to get to his Spark chamber. The key started glowing brightly, transforming into a 'V' shape. I inserted it into the slot in his chest, stepping back when a bright blue light enveloped him.

The color quickly flooded back to his armor and his visor started to glow again. When the light faded, his wounds were healed, though he groaned and put a hand shakily to his head. Not waiting, I quickly revived his twin as well, averting my gaze from the puncture wound from my sword that had previously ended his life. His reaction was similar to his brother's, and I helped him up slowly. I helped him shuffle into the hallway, and glanced over to see Blurr doing the same with Jetstorm.

"Uhhhh...I am not feeling alright. The room seems to be spinning in circles, how about for you, brother?" Jetfire moaned. Jetstorm nodded in answer, but I was overjoyed to have them back. I hugged them both tightly, happy when they found the strength to hug me back.

"I've missed you two." I said, my arms wrapped around both of them. They both seemed to rely on me a bit for balance, but were recovering much faster than I had. Jetstorm glanced at me.

"We be going back to the base now, yes?" I stepped back away from them both, Jazz steadying Jetfire and Blurr doing the same with Jetstorm. I smiled.

"Yes, we're going back." I said.

…...

~Breezeway's POV~

Blitzwing and I had spent probably the last month trying to recover from the Autobots' attack. None of us had expected that they would do something so rash, which is exactly why we weren't able to beat them. Now every single Deception on earth was dead except for Blitzwing and I. Although I'd been told there were more Decepticons scattered around the galaxy, we had no way of contacting them. At the moment we had retreated far north of Detroit, though we were still in the vicinity. And since we were the only ones left and Megatron had been taken offline, I unofficially made Blitzwing leader of the Decepticons. He'd been a 'Con longer than I had anyway, and I was happy to follow him. Sitting next to me, Blitzwing's personality switched to hothead and I listened to his little rant.

"Dose accursed Autobot scum! We vill have our revenge!" he said, switching back to icy. I nodded.

"They will pay for what they did... In the meantime, what are we going to do Blitzy? We can't take them on ourselves, and we have no way of contacting any more Decepticons." I said. Blitzwing thought a moment.

"I don't know. If ve could somehow obtain ze key that ze Autobots posses, den ve could bring zem back to life. After all, zey just left them to rust vehre they fell." Blitzwing said. I nodded.

"Since there's only two of us left and they have the key, they're likely to be more reckless. Next time Sari goes out alone, we'll make sure she doesn't get away as easily as she did the last time." I said. Blitzwing nodded. Suddenly, an unexplained, agonizing pain shot through my abdomen so suddenly and violently that I squealed and doubled over. It literally felt like something was trying to tear its way out of me, and I writhed on the ground, scared because I didn't know what was happening and I thought I was going offline. Blitzwing moved next to me as I twisted on the ground.

"Vhat is wrong?!" he cried. I shook my head, distressed, and spoke from between my clenched teeth.

"Don't...know..." I said, crying out again at an unbearable jab from inside me. Blitzwing looked at a loss, and scared because he didn't know what was wrong either. I tried to think of anything that could cause this, racking my processor before I stopped dead. The pain was already lessening, and I looked at Blitzwing.

"I think...I know what's wrong..." I said. Blitzwing seemed relieved that I was in less pain, and he helped me sit up. I locked my crimson optics with his, taking a breath.

"I'm carrying your sparkling."

…...

~Hayli's POV

"Come on you two, if you want to get stronger you can't just sit around the base all the time." Ratchet said to the twins. I chuckled.

"I may be able to help with that," I said with a smile. "Jetfire, Jetstorm, wanna go for a fly?" I asked. Both perked up at my offer. Though they'd been brought back a while ago, their balance was just a tad off and they weren't yet as strong as they'd used to be.

"Oh, yes, how about you brother?" Jetstorm replied, getting to his feet, albeit a bit cautiously. Like me when I was brought back, they were still weak and their balance was questionable.

"I am up for it." Jetfire said. Both twins, laughing, ran outside and I shook my head as I followed them. Shimmer saw me and caught up.

"Hey mom, can I come?" she asked. I nodded.

"Sure." I said, activating my jet pack and taking off. The twins transformed and flew circles and spirals around me, obviously having a good time. I watched them zip back and forth, playing tag, and Shimmer drove along below us. I was happy to see she was obeying traffic laws even when she was trying to follow us.

I half-watched Jetfire speed ahead, but for some reason he whipped around and flew straight at me, transforming and coming to a halt fairly close to me.

"Hayli, badness bot is coming, but something is wrong." Jetfire said, pointing at the horizon. Squinting, I was immediately on guard when I made out Blitzwing hurtling for Detroit. I yelled down to Shimmer.

"Go back to the plant, tell Optimus there might be trouble and that I'll call for backup if the twins and I can't handle it." I said. Shimmer nodded, transforming and speeding off. I looked at the twins, worried because they still weren't up to par.

"You two gonna be okay if there's a fight?" I asked. They both nodded.

"Yes, badness bots not know what hit them." Jetstorm said. His brother nodded.

"They are not fast, like fire and wind." Jetfire said. I nodded, then equipped my face mask and drew my sword. The twins fell back, flanking me, and Jetfire summoned a fireball while his twin drew back to use his wind ability. Oddly enough, though he seemed to be hurtling for Detroit, something I sensed told me he wasn't aiming to attack us. On this hunch, I didn't attack him as soon as he got within earshot. He pulled to a halt, calling to us, though there was something in his voice that I hadn't heard before, fear.

"Please do not kill me, I have come merely to tell jou zat I need jour help." Blitzwing said with his Icy persona. I glared, de-equipping my mask.

"You mean to tell me that you want me to help you, though you're side has done nothing but take the ones I love from me? In fact, _you_ were the one that took the twins offline, thanks to Sari's key I can have them back." I said. Blitzwing frowned, looking desperate.

"Please, something iz wrong with Breezeway, I require jour medic." Blitzwing said. I flew up into his face, motioning the twins to stay back.

"Give me one good reason." I said. Blitzwing's good optic stared straight into my visor.

"Because I know it iz against jour nature to let somevone die slowly." Blitzwing said. I glared, flying a few feet back and putting a hand to my commlink. The twins protested behind me.

"What are you doing?! You are going to help the badness bots?!" Jetstorm said. I didn't say anything, though I contacted Ratchet.

"Ratchet, I need an assist."I said. He replied immediately.

"What? Are any of you injured?"

"No, Blitzwing showed up though, he said something is wrong with Breezeway and she needs you." I said.

"Uh, Hayli? Are you firing on all cylinders right now? _Helping a Decepticon?!_ Are you out of your processor?!" Ratchet said. I sighed.

"I know...but it would be wrong to deny help if someone is in trouble, regardless of who they're sided with. Please come, and bring someone with you, we could use a little more power if this is a trap." I said. Ratchet affirmed.

"Alright, I'll bring my medical kit and be at your coordinates shortly." Ratchet said, disconnecting. I looked at Blitzwing, sheathing my sword.

"We will help you, but if you are tricking us, I'll kill you both so fast you'll be in the Pit before you can blink." I said. Blitzwing nodded, looking up at the sound of sirens. I looked back towards the plant to see Ratchet in his vehicle mode driving our way. I also saw he had brought Prowl and Sari. Sari met us in the air, and I leveled my gaze at Blitzwing.

"Lead the way." I said.

…...

Blitzwing led us quite a ways from even the suburbs of Detroit, and I recognized the area as being near the old Decepticon base. Blitzwing dropped inside, and those of us who could fly followed suit. Prowl used his boosters to get in as well, and we waited for Ratchet to drive around. Blitzwing glanced around at the offline bodies of his comrades that still littered the floor of the base, but then shook his head and pointed down a hall.

"Ve haven't been staying in ze base, but vhen I decided to get help from ju, I moved her to ze med-bay." Blitzwing said. Ratchet nodded.

"Hayli, come with me, the rest of you, stay here and guard Blitzwing." Ratchet said. Blitzwing held up his servos in surrender when everyone but me formed a circle around him and armed their weapons. Satisfied, Ratchet walked down the hall, turning into the dim med-bay with me close behind.

Breezeway was laid on a table, but she was in obvious pain. She was curled on her side, trembling and occasionally letting out a slight groan. Ratchet went into medic mode, and he went to the table's side quickly. I stood on the other side, and when Breezeway saw me she groaned again, talking to herself.

"No...I told Blitzwing I didn't need your help..." she muttered. I said nothing, but Ratchet was having a hard time examining her when she was curled up so tightly.

"Are you injured?" he asked. She shook her head weakly, then flinched at some unknown source of pain. When she managed to stretch out on her back, I remembered what Ratchet had told me the day she and Blitzwing escaped our grasp. She had been carrying, and now it was obvious, though she didn't look as big as when I had carried Shimmer. Ratchet frowned, running a quick scan on her and looking up at me.

"Her sparkling is premature, but she's having it now." Ratchet said. Breezeway's optics widened.

"What?!" she said, then gritted her teeth at a spasm that racked her frame. I knew the kind of pain she was in, but thankfully I'd only felt it for about a minute, from the looks of it, Breezeway had been in pain for hours. I looked up at Ratchet.

"Can't you do the same thing you did for me?" I asked, tracing the old horizontal scar on my abdomen. Ratchet scanned Breezeway again, then shook his head.

"It doesn't look like it. The process is already too far along, she'll have to have it the old fashioned way." Ratchet said. He motioned for me to go stand at the head of the table by Breezeway while he went to the other end.

"Give her some encouragement, she's going to need it." Ratchet said.

…...

If it seemed like a lifetime for me, it certainly was for Breezeway before Ratchet told her to try one more time. She was panting, exhausted, but she gritted her teeth and clenched the edge of the already-dented table for the last time. Ratchet then stood, holding a squirming sparkling in his arms. Breezeway gave a warm smile unlike I'd ever seen on a 'Con.

"It's a mech." Ratchet said. I looked down at Breezeway, but something was wrong. Her frame had relaxed, and her crimson optics were fixed on the ceiling, not her sparkling. I then noticed the pool of energon spreading around her. Ratchet noticed too, and gently laying the sparkling in my arms, he scanned her.

"She's hemorrhaging...there's nothing I can do with what I have with me..." Ratchet said, sounding dejected. Breezeway shifted her gaze to me, her gaze serious but not with the intention of an enemy.

"I would have given anything...to raise him...but it looks like now...you'll have to." she said in a whisper. My optic widened behind my visor.

"Wait what? You expect me to raise your _Decepticon_ sparkling?" I said, glancing down at the squirming sparkling in my arms. Breezeway's expression was pleading, and her optics were flickering.

"Please. I ask you this...as a mother...not an enemy... Call him...Nightfall..." Breezeway said, trailing off. Her optics dimmed and her head lolled to the side, the color fading from her armor. Ratchet solemnly projected her Spark rate onto the screen on his chest, just in time for it to go into a flat line. I looked at Ratchet, who in turn looked down at Breezeway on the table. I tried to ignore the very large amount of energon pooled around her and walked out to the main hangar with the sparkling in my arms. Blitzwing brightened like Breezeway had, maintaining his calm expression.

"He eez perfect. Vhere is Breezeway?" he asked. I looked at the floor, then back at Blitzwing.

"I'm sorry, she's gone." I said. Blitzwing's optics widened, and, losing control, his face spun to his hotheaded personality.

"Vhat do you mean?! She vas fine a little vhile ago!" Blitzwing said, regaining control and switching back to icy. I shook my head.

"She started hemorrhaging after she had the sparkling. There was nothing Ratchet could do... She said to call him Nightfall." I said. Blitzwing nodded.

"Zat was ze name ve decided on if it vas a mech." Blitzwing said. I glanced down at the sparkling in my arms, his crimson optics looking eerie in his small frame.

"She said something, right before she went offline. She wanted me to raise him..." I said. Prowl and Blitzwing responded at the same time.

"What!?" they said in unison. I didn't even know if I could stand to be around this sparkling. My intense hatred of Decepticons and what they'd done to me threatened to spread to the small form in my arms. Blitzwing said nothing, merely pacing back and forth. I looked at Prowl helplessly.

"What do we do?" I asked. Prowl shook his head.

"I really don't know..." Prowl said. Blitzwing stopped pacing, and looked toward the med-bay when Ratchet walked out.

"Please tell me vhat she said iz not true..." Blitzwing said. Ratchet shook his head.

"I'm sorry. From a medic's standpoint, I think she would've gone offline even if I had everything to save her. She simply bled out too fast." Ratchet said. Blitzwing's gaze darted to each of us in turn and he whirled to the med-bay, talking as he went.

"Take him, on vone condition. I vant him vhen he iz old enough to fend for himzelf." Blitzwing said. I got his attention.

"I don't think so. If I raise him, he will be mine." I said. Blitzwing's persona switched to hothead, but he didn't say anything. As Blitzwing walked by Ratchet, Ratchet briefly took his arm and stuck it with a syringe, drawing a small amount of energon. Blitzwing flinched when he did, and jerked away quickly.

"Ow! Vhat vas zat for?" Blitzwing said with his random persona. Ratchet moved back towards us, storing the syringe.

"So I can program your sparkling." Ratchet said. I looked back at everyone.

"We should probably get going." I said, activating my jet pack and hovering a few feet in the air. Blitzwing went down the hall, ignoring me, and I took off with the others not far behind.

"Jazz, don't ask, but I need you to take Shimmer back to the cyber ninja facility. Something has come up and I'd feel safer if you went with her there? Do you copy?" I asked. Jazz replied quickly,

"Uh, sure Hayli. Guess I'll be seein' you later then." Jazz said, disconnecting.

...

I had my chin on my knees, staring at the squirming sparkling that was not mine on the floor. I really didn't want to raise a Decepticon, if he screwed up, it would be all on me. I picked up the sparkling, Nightfall, as Breezeway had called him. He blinked open his crimson optics when I did, but he didn't smile as Shimmer did when she was this young. He seemed to know I wasn't his real mother, but unlike Shimmer, he hadn't said a word since he was born.

I had the feeling something might be wrong with him, so I stood with him in my arms and walked to the medi-lab. Ratchet turned as I walked in, and I explained.

"There seems to be something off about him, I don't know what." I said. Ratchet nodded to a table, and I laid Nightfall on it. After scanning him, Ratchet frowned.

"Ah, Blitzwing's not going to like this..." Ratchet said.

"What?" I asked.

"Since that sparkling...Nightfall...was premature, it looks like there were some complications. He's contracted a virus that is common but devastating to sparklings who are born early." Ratchet said.

"How devastating?"

"Deadly. And there is no cure..." Ratchet said, glancing at the sparkling on the table. I frowned.

"How long will it take?" I asked. Ratchet shook his head.

"It depends on how strong the sparkling is. Usually no less than two weeks." Ratchet said. I thought a moment.

"I can't believe I'm saying this...but why don't we just program the bugger and give him back to Blitzwing. That way he at least gets to spend a little time with his son..." I said. Ratchet started to say I was nuts, but I interrupted him.

"I'm thinking like a parent, not an Autobot. If Shimmer were dying and the Decepticons had her, I'd want to spend all the time I could with her. I'm sure Blitzwing is the same." I said. Ratchet sighed.

"Alright, Breezeway entrusted Nightfall to you, so I guess this is your choice." Ratchet said. I nodded.

"Do it." I said. Ratchet sighed, taking the samples of Blitzwing and Breezeway's energon and incorporating them into his scanner. He put Nightfall in stasis, though not deeply, and programmed his appearance. He took on the silver and purple coloration of his parents, and I picked him up carefully.

"I'll be back soon." I said, heading out of the base and activating my jet pack, flying to the last place I'd seen Blitzwing. I called out to him, and he dropped out of the sky. I held out his sparkling to him, and he looked at me warily.

"We programmed his appearance for you, but...there's a problem..." I said. Blitzwing took his sparkling from me, holding him protectively.

"And vhat could zat be?" he asked, his optics narrowing.

"He has a virus...Ratchet said it's common but deadly in premature sparklings, and there is no cure... I'm sorry." I said. Blitzwing's face fell and he looked down at his son. Grief crossed his face and he glared at me.

"Ju don't care at all! Don't give me jour false sympathy!" he snapped. I shook my head, powering up my jet pack.

"The thing is, I do care. That's why I brought Nightfall back to you. You can spend all the remaining time he has left with him. I thought you'd like that more than us keeping him until he went offline." I said, taking off into the air and heading back for the base.

…...

~Blitzwing's POV~

It had been a week since the Autobot brought back Nightfall to me, and the virus he had had progressed quickly. Now, though he'd learned Cybertronian and quite a bit of English, he was so weak he could barely talk. I spent his last hours with him, making sure I kept my icy persona and not letting my rougher sides slip through. I sat with him on my lap to watch the sunset, and his red optics had been flickering for a few hours.

His armor had faded as well, and when he spoke to me in English it was faint.

"Dad, even though I may only have been here for a week, and I didn't meet Mom, I guess it's okay I'm going to go offline soon." he said. I stared down at him.

"And why is that?" I asked shakily.

"Because you were an amazing 'bot to spend time with and I wish I could've enjoyed it more." Nightfall said. His optics dimmed, and a spasm shuddered through his small frame before he went still and his armor faded to gray. I laid him gently on the ground, grief turning to anger. I let my hotheaded personality take over and armed my cannons, firing randomly into the trees, trying to enjoy the ones that exploded and were set on fire. During my shooting spree, I noticed something fly through the air and switched back to my icy persona.

I froze over the fires and searched for what I had seen. In my clouded state of mind, I didn't find it until I'd stepped on it. And picking it up, my optics widened in disbelief.

It was a fragment of the All Spark.

I couldn't believe it, and though it wasn't a very big shard, I got an idea, one to exact revenge on the Autobots once and for all. I could use the All Spark to bring my comrades back to life, and with that resurrection, make them invincible. I decided to bring back Megatron first. Although he was harsh even to his troops, Breezeway included, he was our leader and didn't deserve to perish at the hands of the Autobots. I flew to where his offline body still rested in the woods, and I forced open his empty Spark chamber.

Taking a small piece of the All Spark, I placed it in his chamber and closed the panel, stepping back. A bright azure light enveloped him, and soon my leader was trying to get to his feet. I helped him up, and he looked around, a bit surprised.

"Blitzwing? But how is this possible, I was offline, was I not?" he asked. I nodded, holding up the fragment of the All Spark that now had a small piece missing.

"So you brought me back... Very well done Blitzwing, you have served your master well." Megatron said. I bowed slightly out of habit.

"Thank ju, my liege. I vas about to resurrect the others..." I said, trailing off. "...including my son." I finished, knowing Megatron didn't know about this before since he had been offline before I'd even found out I was going to be a father.

"Son? What on earth are you talking about? Who even carried your sparkling, let alone let him die? And what do you mean resurrect the others?" Megatron said. I flinched at the memory of Nightfall going offline in my arms, but shook it off.

"Breezeway, my lord. She vas my bond. And as for ze others, ze Autobots attacked our base with a force greater zan ve thought possible. Everyone vas slaughtered except for Breezeway und I." I answered. Megatron pondered this.

"Very well, restore my former troops, as well as your supposed son." Megatron said. I nodded, doing just this.

After I repeated the same process for everyone except Nightfall, soon everyone was on their feet and shaking off the effects of being brought back from the dead, including Breezeway. I returned to where I'd left him to bring back my son, but when I closed his Spark chamber, nothing happened. Dismayed, I retrieved the small piece of the All Spark I'd used and picked up his lifeless body, going back into the base.

I'd already explained to her what happened, but she was devastated when I couldn't resurrect him. Megatron gave the faintest hint of sympathy, which was more than I ever thought possible.

"You can lay him in the catacombs below the base. Take the All Spark there as well." Megatron said. I nodded, solemnly doing as I'd been instructed.

…...

~Hayli's POV~

We were finally able to relax a little after I returned Nightfall to Blitzwing. With only one Decepticon left in the world, we all felt like we could sleep easier at night. After a bit of a slow day, and night had fallen over Detroit, I found Prowl and asked him if he wanted to go out.

"I checked on the stars, they're really beautiful tonight, you can see the Milky Way." I said. "I bet it looks even prettier by the lake in the woods. Wanna come?" I asked. Prowl smiled, then nodded his approval. We slipped out, me flying low through Detroit and Prowl driving under me. I was entirely relaxed, and in high spirits because 1) I was with Prowl and 2) it was a beautiful night. I flew out of town, meeting up with Prowl on the ground at the edge of the woods. We decided just to walk to the lake and enjoy the night.

Moving silently as we always did, we could listen to the small ambient sounds of the forest as we emerged onto the cliff overlooking the lake. I gazed up at the dark sky, we were far enough away that Detroit's lights didn't pollute the darkness and the stars were indeed clearer here. I sighed happily, going and sitting at the edge of the cliff with my legs crossed as I gazed up at the sky.

"I would never leave this. It's so beautiful...I could watch the stars all night if I could." I said. Prowl sat next to me, and from the full moon's light I could see he had a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"So why don't we?" he asked. I grinned at him, then my gaze was pulled back to the stars. In addition to the moon, the light from our optics gave a bit more visibility too. I enjoyed these type of moments immensely, even if Prowl hadn't been next to me, though it made it just that much better that he was. We sat in silence for a while, no words were needed.

To my surprise, I felt Prowl lightly wrap his arm around my shoulders and pull me closer to him, and leaning down, he kissed me for a few brief seconds. I smiled in content and re-arranged myself so I was sitting with my legs folded and I was leaning against Prowl with his arm still around me. I was pleasantly surprised, usually Prowl wasn't the one to make the first move. I craned my head to look at him, a smirk playing at my lips as I spoke.

"I thought you never showed emotion, tough guy." I said. Prowl smiled and looked down at me.

"You know that isn't true. I just prefer to keep moments like this between you and I. I assume you think the same way." Prowl said. I nodded without looking at him and stared back up at the stars.

"Maybe we're finally safe, and all of this is over...maybe we can spend more time like this, undisturbed, without any fear of being taken offline the moment our back is turned..." I said, thinking out loud as I tracked an airplane across the sky. Prowl's arm tightened around me briefly in confirmation.

"I certainly hope so." he said, looking up at the sky again.

"Do you know any of the constellations?" I asked, picking out the Big Dipper and Orion as I spoke. Prowl nodded, pointing out the ones I'd just seen and then pointing at Ursa Major, which I'd missed. My attention was suddenly drawn to a shooting star, and I followed its brief trail through the sky. I looked at Prowl then, nudging him.

"Did you see that?" I asked. Prowl nodded and I returned my gaze to the sky. "You're supposed to make a wish whenever you see a falling star." I said. Prowl was silent a moment, and I thought he wasn't going to say anything because wishes aren't real, but he surprised me with his reply.

"I wish that we can always share our time like this, and that I will always have you by my side." Prowl said, a smile on his face as he looked down at me. I grinned softly in the bright moonlight, and casting my gaze down to the lake, I watched the rippling surface with the stars reflected in it. What I thought was another shooting star caught my eye. Looking up, I soon realized it wasn't.

When a falling star should've burnt itself out, whatever this was got brighter, and I realized it was actually hurtling towards the ground. Prowl saw this as well, taking his arm from around me and getting to his feet. I did the same, tracking the object, which was falling from behind us. Both of us ducked quickly as it screamed over our heads and I whipped around to see where it landed.

Whatever it was skimmed across the surface of the lake, cooling it down but making the water hiss and steam. It then plowed into the opposite shore of the lake, was tossed into the air, and crash-landed in the trees where we lost sight of it. I looked at Prowl, who silently nodded, and I activated my jet pack, flying over the lake. Prowl used his boosters to come with me, and we both landed on the opposite shore. A deep gouge was cut into the sand and the trees where it had hit were splintered and broken in two. I started picking my way through the destruction, then found something I wouldn't have expected and called Prowl forward, pointing at a fallen tree.

"There's energon on the bark, meaning whatever or whoever fell out of the sky right now is Cybertronian." I said. Prowl nodded.

"And they're injured." he said. I bounded silently through the trail of debris, stopping when I stumbled upon the crater we were looking for. I crept closer, the stranger's fluorescent energon visible on their armor and in small drops along where they'd crashed. I could tell whoever it was was female. Squinting, I just made out wings on the stranger's back and took a half step back, glaring.

"I think she's a Decepticon..." I said. I motioned for Prowl to give me some light, and he switched on his headlights, illuminating the femme lying in the dirt. I circled carefully, confused when I found the insignia on her armor. To my surprise, it was an Autobot symbol, but it was badly marred, as if someone or something had raked their claws over it. I turned back to Prowl, speaking before I was fully looking at him.

"I take that back. For one reason or another, she's a flying Autobot. Odd, she looks a lot like a Seeker..." I said. When I looked at Prowl, his mouth was tightly shut and he had one foot in the direction of the unconscious stranger. When he answered me, it was with disbelief in his tone.

"It's because she is. Th-this isn't possible...how could she manage to find her way clear back here..." Prowl muttered to himself, walking up to where I was. I looked at him, confused.

"Wait, do you know her?" I asked. Prowl looked at the ground, speaking softly.

"Yes, her name is Stormfront. I will explain everything later, but right now we need to get her some medical help." Prowl said, running his gaze along her injured frame. She had some cuts from the trees and her armor was dented in a few places from hitting the ground so hard. Probably the worst was one of her wings, it was slashed badly from the wood and was also snapped nearly in two. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going anywhere.

As a Seeker, she was much larger than Prowl and I, but we decided to carry her together and that we could do it. We dragged her, as carefully as we could, out of the woods and to the shore of the lake. I activated my jet pack and Prowl his boosters, and little by little, we got her finally into the courtyard outside the base. I ducked inside while Prowl waited with Stormfront, and quickly located Ratchet.

"We've got a problem..." I said. I ran out again, Ratchet following close behind. Once outside, he flicked on his headlights as well, recoiling when he saw Stormfront. He turned to Prowl, not me, his tone completely different from what Prowl had been using.

"Stormfront? You brought Stormfront to the base?! Are you out of your processor?" Ratchet said. I was totally confused, but I tried to convince Ratchet.

"Look, whoever she is, she's hurt and she's wearing the Autobot insignia, so I think that kind of mandates we help." I said. Ratchet turned to me, his optics cold.

"There is not mandate to help a murderer." he said. I was completely lost now.

"Wait, what?" I asked. Prowl inturrupted.

"Let me sort this whole thing out with Hayli, I'll help you get Stormfront inside." Prowl said. Ratchet narrowed his optics.

"Alright, but you realize she has to wear stasis cuffs, don't you?" Ratchet said. Prowl sagged his shoulders, then nodded. He helped Ratchet carry Stormfront's still limp form into the base, and I headed to Prowl's room and dropped cross-legged in front of the tree, waiting for him. He returned a few minutes later, sighing and dropping in front of me.

"I...I apologize ahead of time for not telling you about Stormfront before. It was a part of my past that I try to push away. Just so you know, this happned many, many stellar cycles before you were born, before we ever arrived on earth in fact. I hadn't even started my ninja training yet, and a sparkling was found abandoned at the edge of the old Decepticon capitol. She was a Seeker already programmed with her appearance, one of the most deadly forms of a Decepticon, but the elders of our race thought it would be to our benefit if she were raised as an Autobot. She was given the designation Stormfront and when she was old enough, began training as a cyber ninja. Coincidentally, I was forced into my training around the same time, thus we spent many stellar cycles training side by side. As the years passed, I realized I had a fondness for her that grew, a fondness I have only felt for one other femme, namely you." Prowl said, pausing and looking at me. I wasn't mad or possessive over him, I was intrigued by his story and urged him to go on. He continued, "We kept our relationship hidden well, and a few stellar cycles after that..." he paused, his mouth drawn in a tight line. "...Stormfront was so close to her due date, then something went wrong...and she lost our sparkling." Prowl said, lost in memories. I was dumbfounded that he'd tried to have a sparkling so long ago, and when I thought of Shimmer having a half-sibling I just couldn't imagine it. I shook it off, motioning for him to continue.

"Go on." I said.

"She and I were both devastated, and at that point we both agreed to go back to our lives and not think about getting back together. Soon after that, early in the day, bots started to notice she'd gone missing. A search was formed, and found her a short time later. She was standing over Bracket, an elite guard soldier...he was dead. His energon was everywhere, he'd been brutally murdered, and Stormfront's claws were soaked in his energon. I know this because I'm the one that found her... You only have to imagine what happened next. She was convicted of murder, and in the struggle to contain her, Sentinel overreacted. He's the one that gave her the scar over her right optic, she's lucky his lance didn't blind her. Anyway, I was in the crowd on the day of her supposed execution. Right before Perceptor, he's one of the elders you've met before, drove a spear through her Spark, she broke her cuffs and took off into the air. What she said still haunts me..." Prowl said.

"That's awful...What did she say?" I asked gently.

"She said that we had all betrayed her and that she was innocent. We were fools to accuse one of our own and none of us cared the fate of one loyal to the Autobot cause. She said...she would have her revenge by whatever means necessary." Prowl said. I sat, deep in thought, then inquired again.

"Is there anything special about her besides the fact that she's a Seeker?" I asked. Prowl nodded.

"Very. Besides you and Shimmer, she is probably one of the most powerful Cybertronians in history. She has a unique and devastating power that the elders called 'Reapers Requiem.' It basically means that if she is killed in any way, the power draws upon the Spark closest to her in order to resurrect her. In theory, she can never die." Prowl said. I gaped slightly.

"So we have a 'bot gone bad in the base that we can't kill if things get out of hand? What about weapons or other powers?" I asked.

"As for weapons, you name it and she probably has it, though she relies mostly on a double-sided spear that she trained with as a ninja. Her claws are sharp enough to slice Shimmer in two, and she also has the ability to transwarp, though when I knew her a long time ago the effort took a lot out of her and she didn't always go where she wanted to." Prowl said. He cast his gaze to the floor, going silent. I studied him for a moment.

"You don't think she killed that Autobot, do you?" I asked. Prowl looked up at me, then adamantly shook his head.

"No, I believe she was framed. By who, I have no idea, but the outcome was the predicted one. She wasn't highly trusted by anyone but Yoketron and I, so when she was accused it was not surprise to any bot. I still wish I would've done something to protect her though..." Prowl said, trailing off. I didn't know what to think. Prowl was rarely wrong in his assumptions, but what Stormfront had done was a very long time ago and I had only heard his account of the story.

"Did they even have her confess?" I asked. Prowl shook his head.

"No, and that makes me believe even more that she was innocent. Sentinel convinced the council to give her the death penalty without even hearing her side of the story." Prowl said. I shook my head.

"That isn't right. I'll have a word with Sentinel very soon about that." I said. Prowl looked doubtful.

"I wouldn't. He would find it suspicious that you bring up Stormfront, let alone accuse him. Slag head that he is, I admit he's crafty. He'd figure out that you've met her somehow, and he'd have a Spark attack if you told him you had her at our base." Prowl warned. I thought about this.

"That's true...I can just claim you told me the story about her though, and that it upset me so much I wanted to have a word with him." I said. Prowl shrugged.

"Anything to help Stormfront, though be careful what you say." Prowl said. I nodded, getting to my feet.

"Why don't we go see how she's doing..." I said, walking out towards the medi-lab. Prowl followed, and I walked in to see Ratchet finishing up. He saw me walk in and nodded towards Stormfront.

"She didn't have anything too major, I fixed that wing and the few cuts she had, but for falling out of orbit she wasn't hurt very badly. I noticed she did hit her head pretty hard though." Ratchet said. I walked around the side of the table, getting a good look at Stormfront in the light. Being a Seeker, she looked a lot like Starscream, but I could see her armor was marked with old battle scars as well as the one over her eye. Ratchet had her hooked to a Spark monitor, and while the beat was slow and steady, she was still unconscious. On Ratchet's word, she was also wearing stasis cuffs. Carefully, I laid a hand on her shoulder and tried to rouse her.

"Hey, Stormfront...can you look at me? Can you try and wake up?" I asked in a gentle tone. Stormfront stirred, her optics opening a sliver and darting around the room. I could tell she wasn't focused on anything, so I tried again.

"You crash-landed, but you're safe now." I said. Stormfront opened her optics wider, then groaned. She seemed to have heard me, but her optics still darted in confusion. She looked down at her bound hands and frowned sluggishly.

"Wh...where am I? Why am I in stasis cuffs...?" Stormfront said, her gaze focusing on me. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Hayli, I've been working with Optimus Prime's team here in Detroit for a few years now. You're on earth, by the way, and the stasis cuffs...are just a precaution because we didn't know you that well." I said. Stormfront's Spark rate elevated slightly, fear flashing in her optics.

"I-I can't remember how I got here..." she said. I shifted, standing more directly in front of her.

"It's alright, we'll figure it out later." I said. Stormfront's gaze seemed to be drawn to the elite guard's insignia on my chest, and her optics hardened.

"I'm starting to remember...The Elite Guard, Sentinel...yes, it's all coming back to me. You all betrayed me and left me to die! That's why I'm here, I thought I could finally show my face again and when I did, Sentinel tried to take me offline!" Stormfront said in rising agitation. Prowl stepped next to me, and Stormfront's gaze landed on him.

"Prowl?" she said, confused.

"Yes it's me. You need to calm down, what happened is in the past." he said soothingly.

"Yes...but you betrayed me most of all...Standing aside and doing nothing as I was about to be killed! You saw me with Bracket! You know I didn't kill him! So why didn't you help me?!" she cried in despair. I could tell this deeply pained Prowl, and he did his best to explain.

"I tried Storm, I really did." Prowl said. I was surprised at the nickname, but I assumed it was just to get her to listen. "The council wouldn't have it. You remember how I used to be, rebellious, not good at following orders. They believed Sentinel over me, there was nothing I could do..." Prowl said, an edge of sadness in his voice. Stormfront wouldn't have it, she was starting to go into hysterics. Right before she lost it, Ratchet zapped her with his EMP and she slumped, unconscious again.

"I think it's safe to assume we cannot trust her. I'll discuss with Optimus what needs to be done." Ratchet said, leaving the room. I looked at Prowl, his expression containing a sadness I hadn't seen before. He turned away from Stormfront.

"I'm just as powerless as before...and this time they'll be no chance of her getting away..." Prowl said. I laid a hand on him, then went out to the main room, telling myself I was going to convince Optimus to keep her and try and rehabilitate her. By the time I got there though, it was too late. Optimus turned to me, his expression grim.

"Hayli, I need you to contact Sentinel. Tell him he needs to collect Stormfront and return to Cybertron so her previous sentence can be carried out. He can also return with Blurr and the twins if he so chooses." Optimus said. The ones he mentioned looked up briefly, but then slunk off when they saw I was about to go off. My jaw dropped.

"Optimus? Do you hear yourself right now?" I said. "Stormfront didn't even get to tell her side of the story, and now no one will listen to her, they never will if she's executed. This is crushing Prowl for Primus' sake! Can't you see that? I won't contact Sentinel if it's going to put an innocent bot at risk." I said. Optimus looked at me with an expression I hadn't seen him use on me before.

"That was an order. You may be in the Elite guard but I am still your commanding officer." he said, his optics cold. I shook my head, silently apologizing to Prowl, and contacted the slag head himself through my Elite Guard commlink. I explained the situation, and he scoffed.

"Yes, I'm aware that she was around. She came here to Cybertron a few megacycles ago, but after I tried to take her into custody, she transwarped and we had no idea where she'd went. Evidently now we do, I'll be there in the morning if you can keep her contained that long." Sentinel said. I was silent a moment, looking up at Ratchet.

"Can we keep her until morning...?" I relayed. Ratchet nodded and I told this to Sentinel.

"Oh...Optimus said you can take your other three ranks back if you'd like..." I said. Sentinel was quiet a moment, but he surprised me with his reply.

"Nah, you can keep them there. From what the twins have reported they enjoy it with you and I trust you're keeping them in line." he said. I was grateful for this, but it was with a heavy Spark that I disconnected my commlink. No one said anything when I spun on my heel and walked back to the medi-lab. Prowl looked at me when I did, and by my expression could put together what the verdict was.

"I'm sorry, I tried. And I'll try again when Sentinel gets here, but maybe if we can hear her side of the story and relay it she'd get off the hook..." I said. Prowl looked up at me.

"I already have." he said quietly.

"What? Was she awake?" I asked, looking over at Stormfront lying awkwardly on her side with her hands cuffed and her wings overhanging the side of the table. Prowl shook his head.

"No, I snuck into the prison she was held in when this whole mess started and she told me then. No one would listen to me either..." Prowl said, sinking to the floor and sitting cross-legged. I followed suit, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I will." I said. He looked up at me, then sighed, launching into exactly what Stormfront had told him.

"Apparently, Stormfront had had a sort of premonition that something was going to go wrong, so she left the training facility to try and fix it. She circled the city and the area around the facility for megacycles but was about to give up. That's when she heard Bracket scream. Of course by the time she got there, he was almost offline, and she said she wasn't even sure who had killed him, but she knew it was a Decepticon. The reason her hands were stained with energon is because she had tried to stop the bleeding in multiple places but it didn't work. You can imagine how bad it would look to someone like me just arriving on the scene." Prowl said, bowing his head. I tried to move closer to him, but he stood, shaking his head.

"I have to clear my mind." he said, darting out of the med-bay. I rose quickly, going after him.

"Prowl!" I called, slowing when I got to the main room. I faintly heard screeching tires and sighed, I could catch up to him but he needed to be alone at the moment. I returned to our room, stretching out in the tree and powering off my optic, waiting for morning.

…...

The sound of a space bridge activating next morning startled me awake and I sat up quickly. I saw with an ache in my Spark that Prowl was draped on the same branch as I was, close to me. I dropped to the ground silently, looking up at him. He must have come back late last night and sought solace in me... I picked my way out to the main room, where Sentinel had just arrived.

"Ah, there you are Hayli. Come to see the Autobot reject get dragged back to Cybertron?" Sentinel said cruelly. I frowned, looking over to the medi-lab where a now conscious Stormfront was being dragged out by Optimus and Ratchet. I bit my lip, knowing this was probably a futile effort and would probably get me court marshaled...

I stepped in between Sentinel and Stormfront, waving my hands.

"Stop it! You guys are all behaving like Decepticons! Have you ever considered that Stormfront didn't murder Bracket? You didn't even let her tell her side of the story!" I said. Sentinel spoke behind me.

"I'd watch where you tread, Hayli. There was enough evidence to suggest that Stormfront was the culprit and that's the end of it." Sentinel warned. I shook my head, glancing to the side when Prowl walked in.

"I know what's right, and this is not. What you are all doing is cruel and you are about to take the life of an innocent Autobot!" I said, my voice rising. Optimus warned me this time to stay in my place, but I again defied them.

"No, I'm not going to sit back with my thumbs in my aft while I get to watch someone I care about be slaughtered." I said. Prowl seemed awestruck I would fight so hard for a femme I barely knew, and that everyone else thought was guilty. Stormfront was silent, but her optics darted wildly in fear as she listened to me.

"Prowl told me her side of the story, he snuck into the prison she was in when this originally happened and was kind enough to listen. I make my point here." I said, rooted to the floor. Sentinel barked a reprimand harshly at me.

"That is enough, Hayli! If you care so much about this traitor, you can come to Cybertron and be court marshaled yourself!" Sentinel said. I paled on the inside, then knew I was beat. I hung my head, backing away until I was next to Prowl.

"I apologize for my behavior, sir." I mumbled. Even softer, to Prowl, I murmured, "I'm so sorry..." Prowl looked from bot to bot, then took a step forward.

"You may think Stormfront is a murderer, but I know otherwise, and Hayli does too. None of you knew her like I did, and she's had probably one of the hardest lives I can think of. Moreover, she was my friend, and...I used to love her." Prowl said, telling the secret he had kept for so many stellar cycles and had only told me. Stormfront struggled, twisting so she could see Prowl.

"Prowl..." was all she managed before Sentinel snapped at her.

"Enough of this, her sentence was death long ago, and now it's time she pays up." Sentinel said. Stormfront stopped struggling, turning a cold stare on Sentinel.

"No. I would kill you right now, but I have more important matters to take care of." Stormfront said. Before Sentinel could shoot back a retort, she used her claws to hack off her cuffs and then transwarped out of the plant and was gone. We all stared where she'd just been in awe, the only thing even hinting that she'd been there were the shredded cuffs on the ground. Sentinel turned his gaze on me, and I held my ground under his cold stare.

"Hayli!" he started, like it was my fault that Stormfront had a will to live. I silently shifted and stood at attention.

"Yes, sir?" I said, fully disgusted at the formalities that I knew I'd have to use in order to stay out of more trouble.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drag you back to Cybertron and have you take Stormfront's place!" he barked. My team glanced uneasily at each other, even the twins, who were probably Sentinel's most loyal soldiers, looked at each other in horror. I lifted my chin, looking him in the optics. My good optic narrowed behind my visor and I spoke.

"I can't, other than the fact that I too am merely an innocent femme." I said. Sentinel glared, striding up and getting right in my face.

"You just won't let that go, will you? She was a traitor, and unless you stop behaving like this, you _will_ be tried as one too. Am I clear?" he said. I said nothing, then thought about what I was going to do carefully. It would be extremely unwise to push Sentinel, but I could not condone helping take an innocent life.

"Perfectly. And as a soldier to her commanding officer, why would you mercilessly extinguish the Spark of an innocent and loyal Autobot, even if they did come from a bad start?" I said, a challenge in my tone. Sentinel went to reach for me, but before we could both react, a pale blue speed bot was in between us and moving me back before standing in front of me. Without looking at Sentinel, the twins joined Blurr and stood in front of me as well. Blurr spoke, turning aside but still standing in front of me. I caught a glimpse of the scar on his chestplate where he had taken Megatron's sword for me.

"SentinelPrimesir,please, ?" Blurr said in a calm tone. The twins pleaded next.

"Please do not be taking Hayli..." they said in unison. Sentinel stepped back, then scoffed.

"Subordinated by my own troops...figures. Blurr, head out on a scout mission and try to locate Stormfront, the twins and I will be close behind." Sentinel ordered. Blurr dejectedly did as he was told, speeding out of the base. Sentinel turned to me as the twins exited the plant as well.

"I'm confining you to this base until further notice." he said, glancing at Optimus. "And I leave you under Optimus' orders, follow them or you will face the consequences. And another thing Hayli, _never_ usurp my authority again." Sentinel said.

"Yes sir." I answered in a clipped tone. Sentinel gave me one last cold look before turning and transforming into his vehicle mode and speeding out of the base. I whirled, ignoring Prowl's call, and walked briskly into the room we shared. I sat heavily at the base of the tree, hanging my head in defeat. After all I'd worked for, even my status as a hero and member of the Elite Guard didn't help save Stormfront. I'd failed her, as well as Prowl.

…...

~Breezeway's POV~

Pretty much all of us were recovered from being resurrected, and thanks to Blitzy, we were basically immortal. Our next course of action would be to attack the Autobot's base, but we were holding off to give them a false sense of security. As far as we knew, none of them knew we were all back online. Another advantage happened to crash in on us, rather literally.

With a low vibration in the air, a bot suddenly appeared right over the aerial entrance to the base, wobbled, and dropped into the base. She was a femme, I could tell that, and while she managed to land on her feet, she instantly went on one knee when she located Megatron at one end of the room We were all somewhat surprised and confused from what I could tell, and Megatron strode forward, unarmed.

"My designation is Stormfront, and I wish to join your cause." the stranger said. She looked up, and I recoiled when I saw the Autobot insignia on her chest. Megatron noticed too, and he scowled.

"You're an Autobot. How can I trust you are not a spy or will not turn traitor against our side?" Megatron said. Stormfront looked up, and I was surprised to see her optics were crimson, not the blue of an Autobot.

"The Autobots already seem to think I'm a traitor, so why not join your side where I might be accepted? I was born a Decepticon, though found and raised by Autobots. Some of you might of heard of me...many stellar cycles ago, I was the one that was framed for Bracket's murder." Stormfront said. A few around the room seemed interested, like Starscream, Blitzwing, and Megatron.

"You wear the Autobot insignia, though you claim you were programmed a Decepticon, how is this?" Megatron asked. Stormfront glanced down at the insignia, which was horribly marred like she herself had raked her claws through it. It seemed that was exactly what she did.

"I was branded. Though as you can see, after I was accused, I had no wish of returning to the 'good' side." Stormfront replied simply. Megatron nodded.

"Rise, Stormfront, so you may take your rightful place as a Decepticon." Megatron said. Stormfront did as she was told, giving a slight bow.

"Thank you, my liege." she said. I could tell she was like me, not groveling like Lugnut, but knowing how much aft she had to kiss in order to stay on Megatron's good side. As Megatron started to lead her to where she'd be branded a Decepticon, Starscream called to her.

"Stormfront? You're a Seeker, aren't you?" he asked. I could make a guess. Starscream often bragged on how he was a Seeker, and I could see the resemblence of Stormfront and Starscream's frames.

"What do you think?" she asked over her shoulder. I already liked her attitude, and had the feeling maybe we could be allies, if not friends.

…...

"Breezeway! Report!" Megatron's voice commanded over my commlink. I dutifully hurried to where he was, and stood at attention.

"You have a mission, Breezeway. Shockwave informed me that several of the Elite Guard are searching for our newest addition. She is out right now running recon, but when she returns, you are to go with her and bring the Autobots to me." Megatron said. I saluted, then stood alertly near Megatron, awaiting Stormfront's arrival. It wasn't long.

Stormfront, now sporting a Decepticon insignia, dropped into the base, surprising us with what she had with her.

"I found a scout too close to our base." Stormfront said, hurling Blurr to the floor. He tried to scramble up to his feet but Stormfront planted a foot on his chest. Megatron nodded.

"Yes, he's an intelligence agent. Put him in a holding cell, perhaps we can torture some information out of him at a later time. Go with Breezeway, and complete your orders." Megatron said. I bowed.

"Yes, Lord Megatron." I said, taking off and hovering over the base as I waited for Stormfont. She emerged momentarily, hovering next to me. After briefly checking her scanners, she transformed and took off, me on her tail.

"Scans indicate the other Autobots are three miles due west of here. It shouldn't be hard to take them. You already know that Autobots can't fight worth a frag." Stormfront said. I smiled to myself, I was liking her the more I got to know her. Before we got to their last position, we encountered the Jet twins heading straight for us. Stormfront transformed and shouted back at me.

"Cover me!" she said, flying towards them. I circled around, then fired a few shots at the twins. I scored a hit on Jetfire who instantly clutched his wound and spiraled to the ground. I followed him down, landing on top of him and looking up to see an awestruck Sentinel.

"Miss me?" I sneered. Stormfront slammed Jetstorm to the ground next to me, giving me another passing order as she leaped for Sentinel.

"Take care of these two." she said, releasing Jetstorm. I grabbed first Jetfire and then Jetstorm by the backs of their necks, then slammed their heads together. Their optics flickered off immediately, and I looked over to see Stormfront examining a now unconscious Sentinel Prime.

"I can take the twins, can you manage him?" I asked, gesturing to Sentinel. She lifted him by one arm, testing his weight, then nodded.

"Yes, but it's a good thing we don't have to fly far." Stormfront said, hauling Sentinel into the air. I took off with the twins, and though by themselves they weren't a heavy burden, their combined weight hampered my flight a bit. We flew back to the base, and I heard Stormfront make a passing remark before we dropped our captives into the base.

"Primus...this slag-head is heavy..." We touched down in the base, looking for Megatron's approval. He gave a small nod.

"Well done, you have not failed me. If I am correct, the only other Elite Guard that remains is Hayli, at least on this planet. Shockwave has informed me that Jazz is on Cybertron, training Prowl and Hayli's sparkling to become a cyber-ninja as well. Stormfront seemed to freeze at the last part of his sentence.

"Wh...what did you just say about Prowl?" she said, a look of fury and shock and curiously, deep hurt crossing her face. Megatron tilted his helm.

"He has a sparkling with Hayli. Why does this interest you so?" he asked. Stormfront clenched her fists, appearing to contemplate her answer, and when she did it was hesitant.

"When I was...still an Autobot, or sided with them at least, you are probably aware that I trained as a cyber-ninja. I went through my training with Prowl, and..." she paused, like she was about to say something she really didn't want to. "We had a relationship, a serious one... We..." she paused again, then sighed and continued. "We were going to have a sparkling, but something went wrong... and I lost it. I, until I was framed, never stopped loving him, but obviously he doesn't feel the same." Stormfront said, hate predominantly showing in her optics. She looked up at Megatron, putting a hand over her chest.

"Please, my liege. Allow me to retrieve Hayli, I want to make Prowl pay for what he's done to me." Stormfront pleaded. Megatron didn't hesitate to give her permission.

"Very well. Be cautious, you are not immortal like the remainder of us." Megatron said. At this, Stormfront smirked.

"Actually, I kind of am. Have you heard of the Reaper's Requiem?" she said. Megatron narrowed his optics slightly.

"That power is supposed to be mythical, are you telling me you actually have it?" Megatron asked. She nodded with a grin.

"If I am killed, not only will I come back to life, but my body absorbs the Spark of the closest Cybertronian." she said. Megatron seemed pleased with this, and gave her her mission.

"Go, the Autobot's base is not hard to find, and your energy signature is masked so they cannot track you. Return with Hayli, and do not fail me." Megatron ordered. Stormfront saluted and took off, and Megatron turned to me.

"Attend to the prisoners, put them holding cells." Megatron said. I saluted, then dragged the two twins down the hall, repeating the process with Sentinel. Stormfront was right, that slag-head was _heavy_! With my task done, I returned to the main hangar to await Stormfront's arrival.

…...

~Hayli's POV

I still blamed myself that I couldn't help Stormfront, but maybe my attempt planted in a seed in Stormfront's Spark. I could only hope.

Oddly, about an hour after my Elite Guard friends were forced to search for Stormfront, the symbol on my chest started flashing constantly. I tried to remember what it meant, then stood suddenly from where I'd been on the floor. I ran out to the main room, hauling on my jet pack.

"Where do you think you're going? You're confined to base, remember? Or did it slip your processor?" Optimus stopped me. I looked at him, hoping my expression was enough to convince him I wasn't lying, that is, if the flashing insignia on my armor wasn't enough.

"One of them activated their distress beacon, it's Blurr, and I'm not getting any response from the twins or Sentinel." I said. Optimus frowned.

"What do you suppose happened?" he asked. I shrugged, activating my commlink and contacting Blurr.

"Let's find out..." I said. "Blurr? Are you there?" I asked, waiting for a reply. I didn't have to wait long.

"ThankPrimusyou'rethere!TheDecepticonshavecapturedme aswellastherestofour

team,I'mprettysurethey'regoingtotakeusoffline!PleaseHayli,youhavetohelpus!" Blurr said, then babbling in a mixture of Cybertronian and English so fast that I couldn't understand him. I looked at Optimus, confusion spreading on my face.

"Decepticons?" he asked, "But that's not possible, the only one left is Blitzwing and possibly Stormfront, but they wouldn't dare attack the entire group." Optimus said. I frowned.

"Unless..." I trailed off, interrupting Blurr's rant.

"What do you mean Decepticons? Blitzwing and Stormfront?" I asked. Blurr answered.

"No!Allofthem!They'rebackonline,andmyscansareindicatingahigh spikeinAllSpark energyfromallofthem,Icanonlyassumewhattranspired forthistobepossible." Blurr said. I frowned, looking at Optimus.

"Blitzwing must have found a shard of the All Spark and brought them all back...meaning our foes are now..." Optimus said gravely, trailing off.

"Immortal." I finished. I contacted Blurr again.

"I'll see what I can do, hang tight until then." I said, disconnecting and activating my jet pack again. Optimus stopped me.

"I reiterate, what are you doing?" he said. I sighed.

"With all due respect, as you are my friend and commanding officer, but I have to go get them." I said.

"At least let us come with you." Optimus said. I shook my head.

"You know as well as I do how that will end. I'm the only one besides Prowl that can move silently through the base, and, if I'm fast enough, I can get everyone out before they realize I'm even there. Besides, maybe Sentinel will forgive me if I personally save his aft." I said. Optimus sighed.

"Alright, I give you permission to go." he said. "Bring them home." he added. I nodded, taking off through the skylight in the ceiling and angling for the Decepticons' base.

…...

I touched down a distance from the Cons' base, knowing they had radar that would pick up my energy signature. I thought a moment, then contacted Ratchet.

"Hey Ratch, is there anything you can do to mask my signal for a bit?" I asked. Ratchet affirmed.

"Yes, but only temporarily. Give me a nanoclick to get a lock on your position." Ratchet said. I didn't move, and Ratchet got back with me quickly.

"Alright, I'm cloaking your signature now, you have twenty to thirty cycles tops to complete what you need to." Ratchet said. I thanked him, disconnecting and hurrying to the base. I peered over the edge of the hole in the ceiling, dropping into enemy territory, I ducked into the shadows and crouched, my optic widening when I saw what Blurr had said was true.

Breezeway, Megatron, and Starscream were in the main hangar, but I didn't see Stormfront anywhere. Activating my scanners, I slipped into the base further and ran silently down the hallway, tracking the closest energy signature, which was Blurr's. I stopped in front of his cell, glancing around before I opened it.

Blurr cringed at the sound, then relief flooded his face when he saw me. I put a finger to my lips, whispering.

"Find the twins and get the heck out of here. I'll go get the slag-head." I said. Blurr nodded, taking off down the hall. I crept in a similar direction, finding Sentinel's cell and opening it. In dismay, I saw he was unconscious and glanced around again before I entered the cell. Gritting my teeth in frustration, I slapped him in the face and he startled awake instantly. He seemed confused when he saw me, then angry, then his expression changed to relief.

"You're confined to base..." he protested as I yanked him to his feet.

"Would you rather I leave you here?" I said, checking down the hall. Signaling all-clear, I skirted the wall and stopped at every intersection before proceeding. I contacted Blurr briefly and quietly.

"Do you have the twins?" I asked. Blurr confirmed my question.

"Yes,Iranthemoutofthebase,weareinthewoodsclosertotheci tyandheadingawayasI speak." Blurr said. I disconnected, creeping up to the next corner I withdrew with a silent gasp. I turned to Sentinel, speaking quickly.

"It's Breezeway, she must have been sent to check out you guys. My energy signature is masked right now, they can't pick me up here, and that's how I snuck in." Sentinel's optics widened at the name, and I pushed him back as she drew closeer.

"Go, backtrack a hallway and go around, you can get out that way, I'll hold her off." I said. Sentinel started to refuse, but I hissed in a tone I wouldn't dare use under other circumstances.

"Go! Think of it as my repayment. Get out of here before I kick your aft back to base myself!" I said. Sentinel turned then, running down the hallway and turning the corner right as I slammed down my face mask, grabbed my sword, and pressed against the wall as Breezeway approached. As soon as she stepped into view, I swiped her feet out from under her and pinned her, putting my sword to her throat.

"Long time no see," she sneered. "go ahead and try it, not that it will do anything." Breezeway said, looking at my sword thoughtfully. I shuddered inwardly at the thought, our worst enemies were now immortal, we had no hope of even making a stand against them now. Breezeway, apparently now a lot stronger, shoved me backwards and wrenched my wrist around, sending my sword skittering across the floor. She then seized me by the throat, retrieving my weapon from the floor.

I thrashed in her iron grip as she dragged me to the main hangar of her base. She held me up in front of Megatron, who glared.

"Well, look who it is. What are you doing here?" Megatron said. I narrowed my optic behind my visor, though Breezeway answered for me.

"She...aided the prisoner's to escape." Breezeway said. Megatron growled.

"Kill her." he ordered. I thrashed after he said it, desperate, and swung upwards, throwing my weight over Breezeway's arm, tightening her grip on my throat briefly but also succeeding in breaking free. I kicked my sword out of her hand, caught it in midair, and took off using my jet pack before any bot could snag me again. I dove into the cover of the trees a few miles away, making my way back to the base while I still had a masked signal. Before I got there, Bumblebee's voice came over my commlink, sounding frantic.

"Hayli! Where are you? We could really use some help at the base, Stormfront is here and trying to kill us all! Boss bot and Bulkhead are down, I don't know how long the rest of us can last!" Bee shouted. I cringed, activating my jet pack and flying quickly as I spoke.

"I'll be there momentarily, do your best!" I replied. As I neared the base, I stalled my jet pack and dropped with momentum through the skylight in the base. I hit the ground and rolled, unsheathing my sword and activating my face mask as I did. Bee was right, Stormfront was trying to kill them all.

Now Bumblebee was down as well, Sari sprawled on the floor next to him. My Elite Guard team were doing their best, but they couldn't even touch Stormfront. Prowl saw me, glancing at Stormfront, who was occupied at the moment, he darted across the floor to stand next to me. He also had his face mask equipped, and spoke from behind it.

"I heard from Sentinel what you did, that was a risky position to put yourself in." Prowl said.

"Yeah, well, I think we've got bigger problems at the moment." I said as Stormfront knocked both the twins aside. Her gaze landed on me and she glared.

"There you are..." she growled. I stood my ground, my sword defensively held in front of me.

"What did I do?" I asked. She frowned, a flicker of hurt flashing in her optics before she replied, though it was directed at Prowl.

"You say I'm the traitor, but look at you!" she spat. Prowl took a half step back.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Stormfront shook her head, her grip tightening on a double-sided spear that she had been holding.

"I never stopped loving you, Prowl! Do you understand that, what you've done to me?! You have her now, obviously you couldn't find it in your Spark to care about me anymore!" Stormfront cried. Prowl glanced at me, I could tell her words stung him and he was torn as to what to do.

"I...I'm sorry Stormfront, I'd thought you had moved on..." Prowl said. Stormfront growled, raising her spear.

"Of course you'd think that... If I can't have you, no one should!" Stormfront said, moving with unnatural speed and kicking Prowl across the plant. I instinctively followed his path through the air, and looked back at Stormfront in time to see her bringing down her spear, aiming for what appeared to be the Autobot insignia in the center of my chest. I dove just slightly enough that the spear caught me on my left side below where my collarbone would've been.

I gasped and staggered back, Stormfront releasing her hold on her weapon as I did. Pain blazed down my arm and across my chest, merely raising my opposite arm with my sword sent a white flash across my vision. Stormfront reached for her weapon, but suddenly hissed with annoyance and put a hand to her commlink. I couldn't hear what was said, but got the gist of it.

"What?!...My apologies, my liege..." Stormfront said, arming one of her blasters and keeping it trained on me. She glanced at me, pausing a moment as Megatron must have been speaking, then replied before disconnecting.

"I will return at once." she said. Giving me a malevolent stare, she stepped up and seized me by the throat.

"Until next time..." she said, throwing me to the ground and twisting the spear in my shoulder. I cried out, but by the time I looked up again, she had transwarped and was gone. I got to my feet, the spear pained me but it wasn't even close to being fatal. The others didn't look so good though.

Prowl had picked himself off the floor, along with Blurr, the twins, Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus, and Sari, who all managed to get to their feet. Sentinel had a gash in his thigh, preventing him from getting up, and Bee was unconscious, slumped against a wall. Ratchet assesed everyone's injuries, his gaze landing on me.

"Alright, you're first." he said, stepping for me. I shook my head, stepping back as he did.

"I'll be fine, check Sentinel and Bee first." I said. Ratchet sighed, going to do as I asked. He had Optimus take Sentinel to the medi-lab and both of the twins carried Bee.

I held a hand as best as I could over the front of my shoulder, and Prowl came up to me as I watched Ratchet disappear into the medi-lab.

"You should go too." Prowl said. I shook my head. Though my energon was seeping from around the shaft of the spear and trickling down it to drip on the floor, I still refused.

"I'll be okay. It hurts, but it's not serious." I said. Prowl shrugged, but he did help me over to the couch, where I sat sideways on the end of it as I waited for Ratchet.

Bee came out of the hall first, rubbing his head and mumbling. Sari ran to him, looking up worriedly.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Bumblebee nodded.

"Yeah, just a hard knock to the helm and a splitting processor ache." Bee said. His gaze landed on me, and his optics widened.

"Uh, Hayli? You do realize you're impaled through your shoulder?" he asked. I rolled my optic behind my visor, then glanced down at the shaft of the spear.

"Oh, is that what happened? I thought Stormfront just got too rough with a game of tag!" I said sarcastically. Bee rubbed the back of his neck, and I stood with my good hand around the spear.

"How's Sentinel?" I asked. Bee shrugged.

"Dunno, doc bot sent me out after I woke up. It just looked like a bad gash is all. You should really go get that thing out of you." Bumblebee said, not able to take his optics off the spear. I sighed.

"Fine, I'll go." I said. I went down the hallway to the medi-lab, careful not to bump either end of the spear on a wall or doorway. I slid into the medi-lab just as Ratchet was finishing up on Sentinel. And though I wouldn't dare tell it to his face, Sentinel is such a baby when it comes to repairs.

"OW! I kind of need that leg, doc!" Sentinel said as I walked in. Ratchet mumbled as he finished welding the wound together.

"Hold still and you might keep it…" Ratchet said. He stepped back as he finished, and Sentinel got off the table with a grimace. He moved aside with a heavy limp, and he saw me behind Ratchet. I waved sheepishly, and Sentinel spoke as he walked out.

"Ratchet, see to it that Hayli is attended to promptly…" Sentinel said, pausing at the doorway as he edged past me, "while I go inform Optimus that Hayli's punishment has been terminated and she may resume her duties." Sentinel said without looking at me. I smirked as I sat on the table in the middle of the medi-lab, talking absently to Ratchet.

"So, the next time I get in trouble for a stupid reason, all I have to do is save his aft and he'll forgive me?" I said. Ratchet smiled.

"Pretty much." he answered. Equipping the scope over his eye, he examined the path of the spear through my shoulder. I'd already seen it of course, it was stuck at a downward angle through my armor, and the spearheads at each end prevented me from pulling it out.

"It didn't hit anything important, but I warn you, it's going to hurt like the Pit when I yank this sucker out. It'll probably bleed a lot too, but that's normal…" Ratchet said, cutting the spearhead off of the end that was protruding from the front of my body. He stepped to the side of me, placing a servo above the spear and carefully taking the shaft from behind me.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded, gripping the edge of the table, and he slowly began pulling out Stormfront's weapon. I gritted my teeth as pain shot down my arm and through my body again, though I didn't make a sound as he worked the spear out of my body. About twenty agonizing seconds later, he held the shaft in front of me to see. Except for about two feet of one end of the spear, it was streaked in my energon and the spearhead had a bit of my circuitry stuck to it.

I took a deep breath, relaxing my grip and surprised that there weren't dents in the table.

"Thanks Ratch." I said. He gave me a small smile, which he didn't do to hardly anyone else, and handed me the spear.

"Here, keep it as a souvenir." Ratchet said. I took it, then thanked him again as I exited the medi-lab. I turned to the hall that would take me to I and Prowl's room, intending to put the spear in a corner or something.

Walking in, I saw Prowl at the base of his tree with a chest I had never seen before sitting unopened in front of him while he meditated. I stepped on the creaky spot in the floor, interrupting his focus.

"What is that?" I asked, nodding towards the chest. Prowl sighed, shifting so he was kneeling in front of the chest.

"…A part of my past that I didn't think I'd have to bring back…" he said before continuing. "…but now it seems we have no choice." Prowl said, opening the chest. It appeared to be full of black and gold armor, and, sitting on top, was a helmet that looked so familiar… I suddenly had a flashback to when I'd been in a comatose state more than once and Prowl's old master had spoken to me.

"Is that….?" I asked before Prowl cut me off.

"Yoketron's helmet, yes." Prowl said. He lifted it carefully, a pained expression on his face. I knew he never had pushed away his broken past, and, sighing, he fit the helmet onto his own helm. Silently, he put on the rest of the armor, standing when he had finished. I couldn't help but let my gaze travel up and down his frame. Prowl stood with his gaze on the floor and his arms crossed.

"You look like a samurai." I said. Prowl still didn't say anything, and I sighed as I walked up and took his new helmet in my hands, making him look at me.

"She's just confused. If there's good in her like you say, I know we can bring it out." I said in a soft tone. Prowl pulled away.

"That's just it. I don't _know_ her emotions, I can only predict how she will act. And that isn't much good when she attacks us sporadically!" Prowl said. Turning his back to me. I'd never seen him this upset, perhaps only when I'd snapped at him when he brought me back to life, but even then his emotions were sadness, not confusion and anger as it was now.

"Prowl...We'll find a way to beat this, we always do." I said, taking a step for him but halting when he whirled in my face.

"How?! Tell me how, Hayli. You don't seem to be in the greatest shape after the latest attack..." Prowl said in a dark tone, fixing his gaze on my shoulder. He gestured to the open area in the wall as he leaned closer to me. "Out there, every single enemy we have ever known has returned. But now, they are _far_ more powerful than they ever were, more powerful than us, than you, than anyone who would dare to make a stand against them. On top of that, we can't kill them Hayli! The very thing we've paid for with our own energon, our lives if we'd had to, has given the Decepticons immortality! And with Stormfront's ability, we don't dare harm her! So, what exactly is the plan this time?!" Prowl snapped. I backed away from him, hurt. I knew in my Spark he wasn't trying to hurt me, but his words rang true and they stung me to the core. I couldn't meet his gaze, and I hung my head in defeat.

"I don't know..." I said nearly inaudibly. I looked up to see Prowl narrow his gaze.

"That's what I thought." he said, activating his now higher-powered boosters and taking off into the sky. I hung my head again, backing a few more steps before sliding down the wall and resting my head on my knees. With utter defeat, I realized what Prowl had said was true, how could we defeat an enemy we can't kill? I was so upset that I didn't hear Optimus until he was at the doorway to I and Prowl's room, and only then because he spoke.

"Hayli?" he said. My head snapped up, and I relaxed when I saw it was only my leader. I looked at the floor again.

"Sorry, you startled me a bit..." I said. Optimus approached me, kneeling on one knee.

"Something's bothering you, that much I can tell. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. I was about to shake my head, then thought better of it and sighed.

"Prowl and I had a fight, I guess..." I said, raising my gaze to Optimus, he motioned for me to continue. I took a deep breath, then repeated our conversation to him. Optimus gave me a sympathetic look.

"Neither of you are wrong. This could be our darkest hour, but we'll find some way, any way to persevere. As for Prowl, well, I've known him long before you did, I'd say give him some time to sort out his thoughts and if he doesn't I'll send you to go find him." Optimus said. I nodded in thanks, getting to my feet. Optimus did the same, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"As far as I know, everyone has their disagreements now and again, you and Prowl are no different. Just remember, he'll always love you Hayli, that much I can pick up from him." Optimus said. I nodded.

"Thanks. Maybe if I go get him later we can apologize..." I said. Optimus agreed.

"Alright, but in the meantime, Sentinel has told me your punishment has been revoked, you could go for a fly if you wanted." Optimus said. I shook my head.

"If it's all the same to you, I'm going to see if I can get sparring practice with someone." I said. Optimus shrugged, stepping aside to let me out to the main room. I walked out, trying to shake off Prowl's words, and before I could think about it more I called to Blurr and the twins.

"Hey, guys, anyone up for sparring practice?" I said. Blurr nodded, darting to the training room, though both the twins eyed my shoulder.

"Are you sure we want to be sparring with you?" Jetfire said. His brother nodded.

"You are still being hurt, yes?" Jetstorm said, motioning at my shoulder. I glanced at it, then worked my arm through its full range of motion. It ached, but it was nothing I hadn't fought with before.

"I'm okay, it's not even my sword arm." I said. The twins shrugged, then walked with me down to the training room where Blurr was waiting. I nodded to Blurr.

"You first?" I asked. Blurr smirked.

"Speedversusstealth,bringiton Thisshouldn'tbehard,you'rehurtaswell." Blurr said. His demeanor was already helping to cheer me up, and I left the twins to stand in the middle of the training room opposite him.

"Just keep running your mouth, Zippy." I said, using the name I knew Blurr hated with the old band Linkin Park's 'fire of a thousand suns' hate. Blurr started his typical response, distracted, and I teasingly swiped my foot into the back of his knee, making his leg buckle.

"Oh,it'sonnow!" Blurr said. He used his true speed and darted at me, arm drawn back. I underestimated him, and didn't get out of the way in time. His fist connected solidly on my chest plate and I took a half step back. Smirking, I shifted my gaze past him and put on a confused expression, pointing.

"That's a weird place to put a piano..." I said. Like I expected, Blurr risked a glance behind him and that's when I planted my foot in his chest and sent him staggering back. He gave a smile of his own, darting forward again. I judged his speed, then leaped upwards in an instant and hid in the shadows of the rafters, moving about silently except to tease Blurr.

"You may be fast, but you're no ninja-bot, Blurr!" I said. The twins snickered, and Blurr gave them a death glare before searching the rafters. Several times, he looked right past me and didn't notice my presence. Smiling to myself, I dropped down silently and landed on his back, forcing him to the ground while I happily sat on him. I smiled sweetly and looked down at him.

"I win." I said. Chuckling, Blurr shoved me off and we helped each other up. Blurr nodded in satisfaction.

"You are a formidable opponent, even when only on the defensive." Blurr said.

"Thanks. If you had a weapon, you'd be exponentially more dangerous on the battlefield, especially since you're so fast. A word of advice though, I'd work on focusing your mind so you are not so easily distracted. You must be aware of everything around you, but do not let your enemies trick you. If a Decepticon had pulled the same trick I did, you'd be offline on the floor." I said. Blurr nodded, stepping back as the twins stepped forward.

"Alright, let's see what you two can do. Ready?" I said. The twins nodded, leaping opposite ways and forcing me to keep my senses attuned to both of them. I suddenly had my feet swept out from under me by Jetstorm, though I twisted back onto my hands and sprang off, regaining my feet.

"Nice job." I commented. I lunged at Jetfire, who flipped back out of my reach. I was impressed already. I knew the twins were almost as agile as Prowl and I, but I'd never really sparred with them. I decided to test them as I had Blurr, and when Jetfire darted forward, striking me high in my chest, I stumbled and put a hand over my injured shoulder. I grimaced as if he'd really hurt me, stopping my attack which was actually a ruse.

"Oh...Hayli. I am sorry, I did not mean-" Jetfire was saying when with lightning speed, I bowled him over and knocked Jetstorm's feet out from under him. I smiled as I helped both of them up.

"You didn't hurt me. Keep that in mind during a battle, if a con feigns an injury, do not hesitate, but strike instantly. I didn't hurt any of you, did I?" I asked. They all shook their heads.

"Okay then. I'd like to do this again sometime. Focus! That's all I have to say for you." I said. They all nodded, and leaving, I glanced in Prowl's room to see he still wasn't there. I sighed, leaping up in the tree as I contacted Optimus.

"He still isn't back. I'm going to go find him." I said. Optimus affirmed.

"Be careful, the Decepticons are getting much bolder." he said. I leaped out of the tree, landing on the roof, and scanned for Prowl's energy signature. It appeared in the center of Dinobot island, and I sighed as I activated my jet pack.

"Please...don't let him still be angry..." I muttered to myself as I angled for the island.

…...

I landed silently in the crater in the middle of the island where the Dinobots resided. I smiled slightly when I saw Prowl resting his hand on Grimlock's snout. Softly, I called out to Grimlock first.

"Hey big guy? Remember me? I'm Hayli." I said. Grimlock raised his head and looked at me, his thick tail lashing back and forth in the equivalent of when a dog wags his tail.

"Hayli friend!" Grimlock said. I nodded, shifting my gaze to Prowl, whose new helmet and armor still looked unfamiliar to me.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" I started to say before Prowl cut me off.

"No, don't apologize. I should be the one apologizing to you. I am the one that shouldn't have snapped at you, I was...conflicted, to say the least. I know what I said hurt you and I'm very sorry... Do you forgive me?" Prowl said, looking at me with a pleading expression. I stepped up to him, wrapping my arms around him and resting my chin on his chest plate so I was looking him in the optics.

"Of course I do. Life is too short to hold grudges." I said with a smile. Prowl circled his arms around my waist, and I turned, resting my forehead against his chest.

"I love you Hayli, I always will, no matter what I say." Prowl said. I smiled, though he couldn't see it.

"I love you too." I said, enjoying the moment while it lasted before I stepped away. I noticed Prowl had an expression deep behind his optics that reflected an inner conflict, so I asked him about it.

"Tell me what's on your mind. And don't say it's nothing." I said. Prowl sighed.

"I...may have a plan for getting rid of the Decepticons, but you won't like it, and I'm not even sure it will work." Prowl said.

"Shoot." I said. Prowl gestured for the Dinobots to leave, and they silently did.

"First off...we have to get Stormfront to at least call a truce with us." Prowl said.

"Well, your plan already failed." I said. Prowl rolled his optics.

"Let me finish. If we get her on our side, I have a theory about getting the Decpticons eliminated forever... I found no other sure way of doing it... We both can gather All Spark fragments, so why not from the Decepticons' bodies? With the fragments, I can create a shield around the gathered Decepticons, then blow up the shards. The blast will be contained, and our enemies will be gone." Prowl said.

"You forgot the part where you will be too..." I said. Prowl looked at the ground.

"That was the part you weren't going to like." Prowl said. I twined my fingers in his and lifted both our hands.

"I'm going to be right beside you, and you can't do jack about it." I said. Prowl started to refuse, then sighed.

"Bonds till the end." Prowl said, embracing me briefly but tightly. I returned the favor, then powered up my jet pack.

"We should be getting back." I said. "Need a lift to the other side?" I asked. Prowl shook his head, powering up his own boosters and hovering next to me.

"Jump-jet boosters. I can technically fly as well as you now." Prowl said. I smirked.

"We'll see. Race you back to the plant?" I said.

"You're on."

…...

~Stormfront's POV

I was crushed, still, that Prowl had replaced me. On top of that, he hadn't told his new 'bond' his entire past... I circled the city a few days later, mentally glowering at their base. I had meant to kill Hayli, to make Prowl pay for how he hurt me, but I underestimated her and didn't get a lethal hit... I heard static over my commlink and activated it, expecting Megatron.

"Stormfront, we need to talk." I hissed in surprise when Hayli's voice came over my commlink.

"How did you get this frequency?!" I said in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter. Please, just me and you. Meet me in the abandoned warehouse at the west edge of old Detroit in an hour, that is, if you agree to call a temporary truce." her voice said. I inwardly frowned.

"And what if I don't?" I said.

"...I have a feeling you will. There are some things I really need to sort out with you." Hayli said.

"And what makes you think that? The Autobots have destroyed everything I've ever known! I'm supposed to be 'executed' if I'm found, why on earth would I talk to you?!" I growled into my commlink. Hayli sighed.

"That's just it. If I can talk to you, I may have a way to restore your status as an Autobot, not to mention declare you innocent." Hayli said. Wary, but overcome by my curiosity, I agreed.

"...Alright, I'll come. You have a half hour to get your point across when I get there. And just know, if this is a trick, I'll kill you before you can even blink." I said. Hayli affirmed.

"Understood. I'll see you in an hour." Hayli said, disconnecting from my commlink. I angled for old Detroit.

…...

I transformed after an hour and dropped through the ceiling of the warehouse.

"Alright, I'm here. What do you want?" I called. Hayli stepped out of the shadows.

"Do we have a truce?" she asked.

"Fine, yes." I said, rolling my optics.

"Prowl and I have a plan, but unfortunately it has many holes. You are one of them. We need you, Stormfront." Hayli said. I backed up a step.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"We need you on our side, or at least we need you to hightail it before we execute our plan." Hayli said. I narrowed my optics.

"You've wasted your time coming here then." I said.

"Please, I know you still have feelings for Prowl, and I know personally how torn up he is inside. Yes, we have a sparkling, nothing will change that, but think Stormfront. Switch roles for a moment. What if Shimmer was your daughter and I was the enemy? You would do anything to keep her safe and guarantee her a safe future. Well, this is how I plan on doing it. Don't think of this as enemy to enemy, think of it as mother to mother." Hayli said. My gaze darted rapidly around the room as I tried to come up with something to retaliate with.

"What plan are you even talking about? You haven't even told me anything." I said. Hayli shook her head.

"I can only tell you if you swear an alliance and also keep quiet about it." Hayli said. I stared at her for a few long moments, going back and forth so many times it made my processor hurt.

"I—I don't know..." I said, sighing before I looked at her. "The Autobots have caused me so much pain..." I argued weakly.

"Yes, but it wasn't Prowl or I, and we're the only ones that know about this. Do it for us, please." Hayli said gently. I was quiet again, then burst out my answer before I could change my mind.

"Oh alright! You have my word." I said.

"Okay then. Our plan starts in effect tonight then. The plan is for me to create a distraction in the base and draw everyone to the main hangar, when there, Prowl will join me too. Using the All Spark fragments in all of the 'Cons, we will create a shield that will contain all the Decepticons before we pull that shards out of them with processor over matter. After that, we blow up the shards..." Hayli said. I frowned.

"So why did you need me?" I asked. Hayli smiled.

"We needed you to give us cover fire while we focus. We'll be sitting ducks." Hayli said. I was still conflicted, though I had already agreed. I was born a Decepticon, yes, but my being taught as an Autobot nagged my conscience when I considered double-crossing her.

"I can do that." I said.

"Good, when the shield starts to go up, get out fast or you'll be caught in the blast. I realize that won't be a problem for you, but if you're taken offline and we don't survive, one of my friends will pay the price too." Hayli said. I nodded.

"Okay then..." I said, letting my gaze drift to the ceiling as I was about to take off. "And Hayli...tell Prowl I'm going to miss him." I said, taking off quickly before I could do something stupid, like cry.

…...

~Hayli's POV

I let her grim words sink in after Stormfront left. After tonight, there would be two less Autobots in the world, but no Decepticons anymore. As I thought, I remembered the few rogues that would get away, such as Black Arachnia and Swindle, but most likely they'd go into hiding.

Powering up my jet pack, I flew back to the base and dropped through the ceiling into I and Prowl's room. Thankfully he was there, and he looked at me anxiously.

"She's in. She said she's going to miss you." I said. Prowl just shook his head.

"I can't believe we're doing this...What about Shimmer?" Prowl said. I looked at him gravely.

"She's safe, and will stay that way if we succeed. She'll eventually understand." I said.

…...

Prowl and I made our preparations to leave that night, silently slipping out. On the way to the Decepticon base, Stormfront's hushed voice came over my commlink.

"Change of plans, please, just go with it. I'm masking your energy signals as we speak, but you have no need to sacrifice yourself. I'll create the distraction, you two can position yourselves on the rim of the aerial entrance and pull the shards from their bodies. I'll keep them together while you create the shield, but leave a gap in it just big enough that I can get through it. After I'm through, I'll blast the shards, and you can close the gap so that the explosion is still contained." Stormfront said. I looked at Prowl as we flew.

"How did we not think of that?" I asked. Prowl shrugged, though we did as Stormfront said when we arrived, concealing ourselves just at the rim of the opening to the Decepticon's base. We could see in, but the 'cons couldn't see us, hopefully... With a low vibration, Stormfront transwarped high above us, and, looking up, I caught her give a thumbs up before free-falling into the base. I followed her path, noting how she tucked slightly to avoid injuring herself when she hit the ground. Feigning injury, she pulled one of her wings in an awkward position and groaned. I nodded to Prowl.

"Now..." I whispered. I powered off my optics, focusing on the All Spark energy directly below me. A few more sources ran to Stormfront, and I started pulling steadily with my mind, feeling Prowl helping me as well. Stormfront was aided to her feet by Breezeway, that I could feel, and I increased the pressure, feeling the shards wanting to gather into the place Prowl and I were directing them.

A few of the Decepticons started complaining then, the pressure we were putting on their chests was becoming painful. I didn't break my focus, and with Prowl, pulled harder so that with a pained wail from Lugnut, we gained or first shard. I heard Megatron shout orders to his troops as well, we had been found out.

"It's those cyber-ninjas! Find them and take them offline!" Megatron said. On her word, Stormfront started her end of the bargain. I heard a fight break out below me, and assumed Stormfront was keeping all of them in the main hangar below us. I retained my focus, Prowl did as well, and we gained another two shards, sending them about level with the crater edge. Slowly, we pulled shard after shard out of the 'cons until a small mass of them hovered slightly below us.

"Stormfront! Cease this foolishness now!" Megatron shouted from the hangar. Prowl and I started the next phase of the plan, using the energy from the All Spark shards to cast a shield around the entire hangar, though I maintained a small gap in the top of it for Stormfront. Prowl had started humming to help his focus, and I started as well; the battle below me was breaking my concentration and the shield was so large it required almost all my attention.

Soon, Stormfront shot out of the gap.

"Close it now!" she snapped as she took aim through the hole at the shards. I sealed the gap right after she fired, and I looked to see the massive explosion inside the shield. After the blast dissipated, Prowl and I let the shield fade. I leaned over the edge of the crater to see the wreckage below.

The base was completely destroyed, and every single one of our enemies was lying offline, their frames scorched and a few of them with terrible damage. My gaze caught Prowl's, and I couldn't help but smile.

"We did it." I said, looking up at Stormfront. "We all did it." I added. I got to my feet after Prowl did, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. He smiled and returned the favor. Looking over at Stormfront, I felt sympathetic when she dropped her gaze downwards and away from Prowl and I. I held out one arm.

"Come on Storm, get in here." I said. She seemed to perk up, though she shook her head at my offer.

"No thanks. I was thinking too...I'm gonna go off on my own. Sided with the Autobots again, yes, but I'd prefer to stay away from everyone." Stormfront said. I glanced at Prowl, who gave me a small nod and disengaged from me.

"Wherever you go, just know we both will be here to help you, even if no one else will." Prowl said. I good-naturedly shoved him towards Stormfront and grinned. Stormfront glanced at me, then looked back at Prowl.

"I will always love you, but take care of Hayli, she definitely would be the one I'd pick to take my place. I hope I see you again someday." Stormfront said. Briefly, she kissed Prowl before leaping off the plateau and transwarping away. He looked saddened, and I activated my jet pack as I tapped him on the shoulder. Silently, and with the first fingers of daylight starting to creep over the horizon, we flew back to the base.

…...

"You did what?!" Sentinel's voice rang unpleasantly and it was full of sarcasm.

"Uh, saved the world and got rid of the Decepticons. Oh, and we got Stormfront back on our side, no thanks to you." Prowl dared to say. I was trying to to laugh, and Sentinel dispatched Blurr to validate our claim. Blurr returned, panting, about ten seconds later, merely nodding. Sentinel's optics widened, and he immediately called the elders on Cybertron.

…...

Needless to say, Prowl and I were dubbed heroes during a ceremony on Cybertron. Shimmer nearly tackled me in a hug afterwords, and I was surprised at how she'd grown. I realized she'd been gone longer than I'd thought and told Jazz that I was taking her back home, though he could come with and train her if he wanted. Jazz agreed.

…...

I stood under Prowl's tree a few months after we'd returned, gazing contentedly through the canopy at the beams of sun that permeated the leaves. My daughter darted in and out of the rooms in a game of tag with the twins, Sari, and Bumblebee, laughing all the time. I sensed Prowl come up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. I rested my head back against his chest plate. I smiled as he placed his hand against my abdomen, just as I felt a tiny form kick from inside me.

…**...**

**I hope this was a happy conclusion to Hayli's story, wow... a small idea that led into almost a 300 page trilogy, much fan art, and dreams full of me as my OC, is now...done? I find it hard to believe, that's mostly why I left the cliffhanger at the end. I have an idea for a new story/series based off of this, it will be the new sparkling and Shimmer's lives. It is infantismal though, I don't have enough to sustain it, so for a while, this universe has drawn to it's end. If ANYONE wants to use ANY of my OC's, go right ahead, just PLEASE tell me first or at least credit me. In fact, I'd be tickled to see my OC's in anyone else's work. I sincerely hope that at least someone has read all of what my mind has to offer, and just know that I will continue to write! I read any and all opinions, so please give me yours! Aurrawings out! ^~^**


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